[Year-Round Housing Committee] Update
Mlongreene2 at aol.com
Mlongreene2 at aol.com
Tue Aug 28 07:25:36 EDT 2007
Hi All, Just want you to know all is alive and well with the YRHC, in spite
of no meetings this month, I am trying to keep things moving ahead.
Today's paper had an interesting article about Chebeague's purchase of a
rental house. I have attached it in text form (and opened it below) if you did
not see it. I still believe rental housing is critical here and hope we can
do something about that eventually.
The remaining grant documentation has been submitted and money should be
available shortly from the Island Institute to begin survey work on Town
Parcels. I used the Islesboro lease agreement as a proposed model, even though I
know we will modify it. I had to submit something as part of the followup.
We are fortunate to have Alden Robinson for a second year. I have just
completed the paperwork on that and met with the Institute. One of his prime
(and continuing) missions will be to assist our YRHC with our work. He is a
great asset. Thank you Alden for your fine assistance.
We need to elect officers to the Year Round Housing Corporation (not the
YRHC) in order to complete the 501c3 application. I will call a meeting of the
Corporation shortly to do that (Chee, Steve Train, Leah, myself). Let me
know Leah and Steve what time might work for you. It will only take a few
minutes, but must be formally posted 7 days ahead to be legal. Thanks,
Let me know of any issues that need attention
Chebeague takes first step toward solving problem << back to story >>
Chebeague takes first step toward solving problem
An island group has purchased a house it will rent out affordably.
By TESS NACELEWICZ Staff Writer
August 28, 2007
Carly Knight lives on Chebeague Island full time but has to cope
with a rental market geared toward part-time summer people.
That means the 24-year-old and her lobsterman boyfriend,
Mark Bowman, have to vacate the house they rent each July so
the owners can enjoy their property too.
Knight is not complaining. She feels lucky to have found a house
to rent, likes her landlord and is grateful to Bowman's family for
letting her and Mark stay with them this July, when they couldn't
find a one-month rental.
Still, Knight said, "I can't imagine what it's like for young families
with kids who are doing it -- moving each year and hopping
around."
Now, a group that helped this island become an independent
town is actively working to help young families with children live
year-round on Chebeague by creating more affordable housing.
The goal of the Chebeague Island Community Association is to
make available homes that young couples and families can
afford to buy or rent year-round without having to move out for
weeks or months at a time.
"There is a need for rental property on the island," said Beth
Howe, chairwoman of the association's housing committee.
She said the association just bought its first house, a three-
bedroom home on South Road, and plans to rent it at an
affordable price, probably starting in November, to tenants who
fit criteria that the group plans to draw up. The rent has not yet
been set and will be determined using a formula related to
renters' income and other factors.
After two years, Howe said, the group will decide whether to sell
the house as affordable housing or continue to keep it as an
affordable rental unit.
She said the need for housing that moderate-income people can
afford is great on Chebeague, a picturesque Casco Bay island
that can be reached only by ferry or boat.
While the median income for working families is $50,000, the
median price for oceanfront homes exceeds $1 million. Even
away from the water, the median price for a home in the interior
of the island was $279,000 in 2005, Howe said.
The issue of affordable housing has taken on a particular
urgency since Chebeague, which has about 350 year round
residents, became its own town in July.
A major reason Chebeague seceded from the town of
Cumberland after 186 years is that it wanted to keep control of
its school. However, if young families can't afford to stay on the
island, the school would have to close. Islanders fear that would
lead to Chebeague's becoming only a summer resort.
The island's population swells to about 2,000 in the summer.
The Chebeague Island Community Association formed in 2005
as part of the secession effort. But now that Chebeague has
become its own town, affordable housing has become a focus of
the association -- particularly housing for young families.
"What good does it do us to gain control of our school if the
school withered away because young families can no longer
afford to live year round on the island?" the association asks in a
statement on Chebeague's Web site.
Affordable housing, the groups says, fits in with its mission "to
ensure the survival and long-term viability of Great Chebeague
Island as a year-round community."
Donna Damon, a town selectman, said she doesn't know details
of the association's efforts but praised its goal.
"I think what they're doing is admirable," she said. Damon,
whose family ties to the island date back several hundred years,
said she worries that her own children, one in college and one
teaching in Massachusetts, will never be able to afford to make
their homes on the island.
"I think there certainly is a need," she said.
The recently renovated house that the association purchased for
$244,000 is in the center of the island, near the island market
and the library, Howe said. The purchase was funded by loans
and grants from the Genesis Community Loan Fund and from
the Island Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Rockland.
The association also raised $25,000 for the purchase.
The association is planning more fundraising after it determines
what its next project will be, Howe said.
One possible plan is to build some duplexes that can serve as
rental units, she said. Currently, virtually all the housing on the
island is single-family homes, and the rentals are often
seasonal.
Howe said the island has a need for rentals "where you can have
your own furniture and stay for a year or two without having
someone come and stay for a month in the middle."
Knight, who first came to the island in 2005 on an Island
Institute fellowship to work on community development
programs and is now working at an island lobster cooperative,
said she and Bowman, who is 25 and an island native, are not in
a position now to buy a home.
Knight said friends on other Maine islands are facing a similar
housing crunch. She praised Chebeague for trying to do
something about it.
"It's wonderful that people are putting in the effort to try and
create some opportunities and make a difference," she said.
"Young working families are important to the island."
Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791-6367 or
at:
_tnacelewicz at pressherald.com_ (mailto:tnacelewicz at pressherald.com)
Copyright © 2007 Blethen Maine Newspapers
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Chebeague takes first step toward solving problem << back to story >>
Chebeague takes first step toward solving problem
An island group has purchased a house it will rent out affordably.
By TESS NACELEWICZ Staff Writer
August 28, 2007
Carly Knight lives on Chebeague Island full time but has to cope
with a rental market geared toward part-time summer people.
That means the 24-year-old and her lobsterman boyfriend,
Mark Bowman, have to vacate the house they rent each July so
the owners can enjoy their property too.
Knight is not complaining. She feels lucky to have found a house
to rent, likes her landlord and is grateful to Bowman's family for
letting her and Mark stay with them this July, when they couldn't
find a one-month rental.
Still, Knight said, "I can't imagine what it's like for young families
with kids who are doing it -- moving each year and hopping
around."
Now, a group that helped this island become an independent
town is actively working to help young families with children live
year-round on Chebeague by creating more affordable housing.
The goal of the Chebeague Island Community Association is to
make available homes that young couples and families can
afford to buy or rent year-round without having to move out for
weeks or months at a time.
"There is a need for rental property on the island," said Beth
Howe, chairwoman of the association's housing committee.
She said the association just bought its first house, a three-
bedroom home on South Road, and plans to rent it at an
affordable price, probably starting in November, to tenants who
fit criteria that the group plans to draw up. The rent has not yet
been set and will be determined using a formula related to
renters' income and other factors.
After two years, Howe said, the group will decide whether to sell
the house as affordable housing or continue to keep it as an
affordable rental unit.
She said the need for housing that moderate-income people can
afford is great on Chebeague, a picturesque Casco Bay island
that can be reached only by ferry or boat.
While the median income for working families is $50,000, the
median price for oceanfront homes exceeds $1 million. Even
away from the water, the median price for a home in the interior
of the island was $279,000 in 2005, Howe said.
The issue of affordable housing has taken on a particular
urgency since Chebeague, which has about 350 year round
residents, became its own town in July.
A major reason Chebeague seceded from the town of
Cumberland after 186 years is that it wanted to keep control of
its school. However, if young families can't afford to stay on the
island, the school would have to close. Islanders fear that would
lead to Chebeague's becoming only a summer resort.
The island's population swells to about 2,000 in the summer.
The Chebeague Island Community Association formed in 2005
as part of the secession effort. But now that Chebeague has
become its own town, affordable housing has become a focus of
the association -- particularly housing for young families.
"What good does it do us to gain control of our school if the
school withered away because young families can no longer
afford to live year round on the island?" the association asks in a
statement on Chebeague's Web site.
Affordable housing, the groups says, fits in with its mission "to
ensure the survival and long-term viability of Great Chebeague
Island as a year-round community."
Donna Damon, a town selectman, said she doesn't know details
of the association's efforts but praised its goal.
"I think what they're doing is admirable," she said. Damon,
whose family ties to the island date back several hundred years,
said she worries that her own children, one in college and one
teaching in Massachusetts, will never be able to afford to make
their homes on the island.
"I think there certainly is a need," she said.
The recently renovated house that the association purchased for
$244,000 is in the center of the island, near the island market
and the library, Howe said. The purchase was funded by loans
and grants from the Genesis Community Loan Fund and from
the Island Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Rockland.
The association also raised $25,000 for the purchase.
The association is planning more fundraising after it determines
what its next project will be, Howe said.
One possible plan is to build some duplexes that can serve as
rental units, she said. Currently, virtually all the housing on the
island is single-family homes, and the rentals are often
seasonal.
Howe said the island has a need for rentals "where you can have
your own furniture and stay for a year or two without having
someone come and stay for a month in the middle."
Knight, who first came to the island in 2005 on an Island
Institute fellowship to work on community development
programs and is now working at an island lobster cooperative,
said she and Bowman, who is 25 and an island native, are not in
a position now to buy a home.
Knight said friends on other Maine islands are facing a similar
housing crunch. She praised Chebeague for trying to do
something about it.
"It's wonderful that people are putting in the effort to try and
create some opportunities and make a difference," she said.
"Young working families are important to the island."
Staff Writer Tess Nacelewicz can be contacted at 791-6367 or
at:
tnacelewicz at pressherald.com
Copyright © 2007 Blethen Maine Newspapers
<< back to story >>
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