A rule that prohibits smoking at a new affordable housing complex in Belfast has created a stubborn challenge for the city.
Since Congress Square Commons opened nine months ago, that policy has forced residents to smoke cigarettes just outside the property along its Congress Street entrance, where there is little space for them to safely congregate, and neighbors have also complained about the secondhand smoke that’s reaching them.
During a Tuesday night meeting of the City Council, several neighbors openly expressed their concerns about the safety of residents standing in the street to smoke. Earlier in the day, some residents of the complex also complained about the arrangement in interviews with a reporter.
While city officials acknowledged the dilemma during the Tuesday night meeting, they took no immediate action and instead agreed to revisit the issue and address possible safety measures after further discussion with property managers and police.
The city has secured funding for constructing a sidewalk in the Congress Street area, but the project won’t immediately solve the issue because it’s expected to take years to complete.
“I’m really frustrated, I’m not satisfied,” said Councilor Brenda Bonneville, who was moderating the meeting Tuesday. “I’m hoping, with the city, with insurance, there’s got to be a way to figure something out.”
The issue has demonstrated the growing pains that can come with new housing projects in Maine, where they are critically needed to address a housing shortage, but may cause friction with neighbors and come with strict requirements that have unintended consequences.
At Congress Square Commons, residents are not allowed to smoke on the property under rules set by MaineHousing, the state agency that provided funding for the project. Developers of the project appeared at the meeting and said that the smoke-free policy is primarily driven by insurance requirements.
Scot Cannon, a resident who lives nearby, said he has noticed residents sitting on curbs in the street and standing in the way of traffic throughout the year, even when visibility is low for passing drivers.
“I understand the insurance thing, but I don’t think this is up to us,” Cannon said. “They’ve got to find some way with the insurance company to amend it so they have some smoking area on the grounds just to make it safe for everybody.
According to Kristi Brown, the property manager at Congress Street Commons, residents who violate the no-smoking policy can get written warnings, with repeat offenses leading to eviction.
To get around that ban, residents have taken to smoking outside the entrance.
At the council meeting, Belfast Police Chief Robert Cormier said that the tenants can be liable for safety violations.
“People actually can’t stand in the roadway, and they’d actually be violating the law if they do,” Cormier said. “If they can’t do it on the property and they can’t do it in the street, they have to walk to a place where they can legally smoke. Really, that would be up to them.”
Some speakers floated the idea of the property — which is on former city public works land — providing a designated smoking spot offsite.
Amanda Bartlett, from the firm Developers Collaborative that helped build the housing complex, said that smoke-free policies are a relatively new challenge for property managers both statewide and nationally. Congress Square Commons is only the second property the company has developed under such rules, Bartlett explained.
“Although there is not any work-around for us to allow smoking on the property itself, we will work hard to provide tenant education,” Bartlett said. “We offer smoking cessation programs. We will be working cooperatively with the city on the sidewalk project, and I’m here tonight because I want you all to know that it’s important to us that we stay involved and that we find a solution here, as well.”
Police will also work to slow down traffic around the entrance of the complex, Cormier said.
