The Maine Monitor Radio Hour is a monthly program in which reporters and editors from The Maine Monitor discuss the newsroom’s recent reporting.
This month, editor Kate Cough was joined by government accountability reporter Josh Keefe to talk about the fight for workforce housing on Mount Desert Island.
The debate over a six-unit project in Mount Desert has pitted millionaire summer residents against both the town and a pair of billionaire brothers.
Mount Desert 365 began purchasing property several years ago with hopes of building year-round workforce housing — typically property whose sale or rental price is lowered below market rates and set aside for people with incomes near the area median. One of those plots is the 0.9-acre lot on the corner of Manchester and Neighborhood, where the group plans to build a six-unit subdivision called “Heel Way.”
The project has been the subject of great debate, spurring petitions for and against. After months of public hearings, it was approved by the town planning board late last year in a 3-1 vote. But soon after, a group of seven wealthy summer residents sued the town, arguing the six-unit project was too dense.
A judge struck down all their arguments; undeterred, they appealed the court’s decision, delaying the project and costing the town, so far, at least $55,000 in legal fees. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court won’t hear the case until February at the earliest.
The project proponents say the island desperately needs housing and year-round residents, and the Heel Way subdivision would be an important, if small, step. Opponents, meanwhile, say they support workforce housing but think the Heel Way project is flawed, with too many units on too small a plot — out of character for the neighborhood.
You can listen to the episode here. Tune in to listen live the first Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. on WERU 89.9 FM.
