Residents of the midcoast town of St. George have narrowly rejected a measure that would have given away 18 acres of town-owned land for the development of up to seven new homes, a proposal that backers had hoped would help to ease the housing crisis affecting the state and region.
But opponents disagreed with the town giving away its land — rather than trying to sell it — and questioned how much benefit the new housing would bring to residents of St. George, according to interviews with voters. The no votes ultimately outweighed the yeses, 327-304.
If passed, the proposal would have allowed the town to transfer the land from a 78-acre parcel on the northern end of its peninsula to the St. George Community Development Corp., an organization that would have built the homes on five of the acres, then sold them to buyers who were current residents, first-time purchasers or contributors to the local economy.
A street sign for Kinney Woods Road, the area where the town had proposed giving away land for a housing development. Voters rejected the measure on May 13, 2024.
The rest of the property, which is in a part of town known as Kinney Woods, is wetlands that would not have been developed.
St. George was hardly alone in trying a new approach to develop housing. It’s one of several municipalities in the midcoast that are trying to do something about growing rents and a housing stock that can’t keep up with demand.
But at the polls on Tuesday, some opponents of the project took issue with the concept of giving away the land.
Voter Morris Berry said he thought the project would have been more successful if the town sold the land instead.
“Somebody’s gonna make money on it. It’s not the town if we give it away,” Berry said. But, he added, “I mean we will in taxes eventually.”
Another opponent, Richard Paulsen II, said he was worried that the houses built through the project wouldn’t go to St. George residents.
But some supporters, including Scott Warren and Catherine Plourde, disagreed with that concern, arguing that the measure would have helped people in the community.
Warren and Plourde, who left the polls at the same time, also expressed hope that the project could help bring more affordable housing to the area, even if it was just a start.
“I think we need to support the next generation of people who want to be here,” Warren said.
Plourde added, “We want to try to keep a few of the 30-somethings around, you know?”
“Housing is a national and local problem,” said another supporter, Peter Yanz, who had just voted and noted that he’s barely scraping by himself. “I mean, we just need more affordable housing. It’s a matter of equity.”
In April, Town Manager Rick Erb said that the town had decided to give the land away to keep its development costs and housing prices lower. Plus, he said, the development corporation would have been in a better position to take control of the project.
The land hasn’t been on the tax rolls in over two decades, and the new homes would have brought in $13,986 in annual property taxes, according to the development corporation.
The town of St. George has owned the Kinney Woods Project land since 2002.
The director of the development corporation, Robert Kelley, has said that this would have been the organization’s first large-scale housing project. The nonprofit has already partnered with Midcoast Habitat for Humanity in acquiring a condemned property in the town, razing it, and rebuilding a single-family home on it, according to its website.
The Kinney Woods project isn’t the only measure to expand Maine’s housing inventory that’s failed at the polls this year. In March, residents in Cumberland blocked a 107-unit housing development, and in Kingfield, they shot down a 45-unit workforce development. Concerns about higher property taxes and overcrowding can discourage residents from allowing new housing ventures in their towns.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member.Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
