NORWAY – Neighbors of a proposed cooperative housing project at 33-35 Whitman Street expressed concerns about traffic, noise and parking during a public hearing on July 11.
The property at 33-35 Whitman Street, where a three-story, 17-unit cooperative housing building is planned, stands vacant during a walkthrough by the Norway Planning Board on June 25. The home of the late Ashley Everett was demolished by the Norway Equitable Housing Cooperative in February to make way for the new development. Photo courtesy of Claire Emrick/Center for Ecology-Based Economy
The Norwegian Planning Board will now review the application and approve or reject it based on its compliance with Norwegian regulations, such as the review of building plans, said chairman Dennis Gray.
Thea Hart, project coordinator of the Norway Equitable Housing Cooperative, took the neighbors’ concerns seriously and patiently answered all the questions Hart was asked, even if the appeals became more passionate at times.
The cooperative was founded in 2021 by the Norwegian Center for Ecologically Oriented Economy with the goal of bringing affordable and sustainable, climate-neutral housing to the region. For the cooperative, climate neutrality means low to no electricity bills in an energy-efficient building with solar panels providing all the electricity needed, Hart said.
“We really consciously tried to create green spaces,” Hart said of the planned apartment complex.
The Norway Equitable Housing Cooperative building will be owned by the tenants and operated as a limited liability housing cooperative with a charter. Each household will own a voting share in the organization.
“To move in, residents would have to purchase a share in our cooperative and pay monthly fees for utilities and maintenance,” says a page on the Center for Ecology-Based Economy website.
Ecovillages and housing cooperatives exist in rural and urban communities across the country, but they are relatively new in Maine. Raise Up, a Lewiston-based organization that currently operates three properties, served as a model and supported the Norwegian group.
Hart said the co-op worked with the surrounding community throughout the process, which included purchasing the late Ashley Everett’s home and then demolishing it last February. The dilapidated 19th-century home was beyond salvage and contaminated with asbestos, essentially making it a brownfield site in need of remediation. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “a brownfield site is a property whose expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be made difficult by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.”
“We have done our best over the past few years to build relationships with our neighbors,” Hart said.
The group has held information sessions and community dinners to engage and inform neighbors, Hart added.
Nevertheless, a resident of the project, Allison Gaston, expressed the impression that the construction of 17 affordable housing units was being pushed through without the community’s say and suggested that the building be constructed in the forest.
Scott Vlaun, executive director of the Center for Ecology-Based Economy, said that the forest is the “last place” where people want to create affordable housing because of the lack of access to services such as food and medical care.
“This is literally the best place in Norway to create housing right now,” Vlaun said of the co-op’s proposed site at the corner of Whitman and Pearl Streets.
He pointed out that Maine has decided to build 80,000 housing units by 2030 to meet the need for affordable housing in the state, Vlaun said.
Other neighbors explained how bad the traffic and speed problems in the area already are and feared that the additional population there would make the problem even worse.
Penny Leibovitz, another resident, expressed concern that the co-op apartments would make the area unaffordable for everyone else and even asked if “illegals” would live in the building.
“We have a quiet neighborhood,” Leibovitz said.
“We don’t want to drive you out of the neighborhood and we don’t want to make any noise. I like it quiet,” Hart said. “We’ll do our best.”
Hart and Vlaun expressed a personal need for affordable and energy-efficient housing and said they would both likely apply for a spot in the co-op once it opens. Two other residents said the same.
Members of the Norwegian Planning Committee tour part of a site at 33-35 Whitman Street where a three-story, 17-unit cooperative housing building is planned for construction on June 25. Photo courtesy of Claire Emrick/Center for Ecology-Based Economy
“We live with you. We are your neighbors,” said Theo Cornish, who lives in Norway.
Gaston asks about the number of parking spaces; there are 12 in total.
Hart responded that it met the minimum requirements of LD 2003, a state law passed in 2022 to remove barriers to affordable housing in Maine. The law requires two parking spaces for every three housing units and replaces Norway’s parking ordinance.
“If it turns out not to be good, we hope to correct it,” Hart said of the parking lots, stressing that the group wants to continue working with neighbors throughout the process to resolve any issues.
The co-op hopes to use MaineHousing’s Rural Affordable Housing Rental Program to finance the project, but must first obtain all necessary permits so the project is “shovel ready,” Hart said.
“The whole point of cooperative housing is that it’s based on relationships, not profit,” Hart continued. “All profit goes back into the community and the surplus goes to the owners, who are the renters.”
Vlaun defended the idea of cooperative housing and the people who would use it.
“When the homes are owned by the residents, crime rates are lower, people are more cautious and there is more contact among neighbors. They are starting to understand the value of this model,” Vlaun said of MaineHousing.
Hart added that Norway’s Main Street needs younger people to support and work there, and that affordable housing is a prerequisite to attracting people to the area.
“We would like to meet this need.”
The planning board will now review the co-op’s application and determine whether it complies with city ordinances, such as zoning review, Gray said, noting that the city has never passed a building code before.
“If it meets the requirements of the regulation, then it is our duty to approve it,” he said.
The Norwegian Planning Board will next meet on 25 July at 19:00 in the City Hall.
Copy the story link
” Previous
Oxford County Commission hires new finance director, considers administrator apps
Next ”
similar posts
