Dear Editor:

As headed by a co-planner of LD 2003, BRDC quickly formed a month after LD 2003 was enacted and positioned itself to grab town and county ARPA funding before other proposals had a chance.

Recently the Boothbay Region Development Corporation received preliminary approval for its development without undergoing a traffic study. 

LD 2003 calls for 488 priority zones in every municipality in Maine and permits priority zones to short the off-street parking spaces needed by inhabitants by one-third.

That leaves one-third of the units to park their cars on the street.

That is a municipal traffic concern. Presently the BRDC is constructing only 20 units and 38 parking spaces giving the appearance of generous parking accommodations but It is extremely well documented that BRDC is planning a development of 162 units. and it is clearly stated in LD 2003 that off-street parking spaces represent 2/3rds of the total minimum parking spaces required by the units.

That means 38 off-street parking spaces equal 57 total parking spaces with 19 spaces left for the surrounding municipality to provide. The municipality can demand a traffic study for 40 parking spaces.

Boothbay is one of the first communities to get the priority zone established. How Boothbay calculates the parking spaces sets a precedence for the state.

How will the decision about who gets the parking space be managed? Will a fee be charged for a parking space and will that fee be incorporated into the housing cost which is to be no more than a third of the inhabitant’s income?

Note that the targeted income has increased with every report.

07/11/2023 the Butler Road site will consist of 24 for-sale condominiums targeted at households making less than 80% of AMI ($68,160 for a family of four in 2023).

07/01/2024 
BRDC plans to build a variety of housing on the site including both for-rent and for-sale options, targeted to households making between 80% and 120% of the Area Median Income.

09/20/2024 -Cooperrider told planning board members the corporation is targeting homebuyers making 75% to 125% of median household income or $63,250 to $101,250 per family.

Susan M. Andersen

Boothbay Harbor