Mainebiz Special Editions

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 67 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine B U S I N E S S R E S O U R C E S opportunities. New accessory dwelling units language aims to ease the housing crunch, provide opportunity for addi- tional income and expand flexibility to homeowners. e updates had the city's planning staff scouring through thousands of detailed changes and dozens of sub- stantive changes. Many of the old zoning provisions were adopted in the late 1980s. Zoning and land use practices have since evolved, says LaChapelle, who spearheaded the overhaul. "From the council point of view, we're saying, 'Yes, come to Lewiston. We're open for business,'" he says. "We have homes selling for $1 million and we have homes selling for $30,000. We have a broad spectrum of business, from 70,000 square feet to a thousand square feet. We're really diversifying, we need the small businesses, and we need the big businesses. Lewiston is ready to help." Auburn In Auburn, Mayor Jason Levesque has aggressively courted development, challenging developers to build 2,000 new housing units by 2025. He has said his goal for the city of 24,000 is to boost its population by 25%. Auburn is seeing new highs in con- struction permits. Commercial and resi- dential development is booming, with the arrival of chain stores, expansion of local factories, and national headlines as America's "YIMBYest," saying "Yes in My Backyard" to new development. e city has offered several proper- ties for sale by bid, with the goal of attracting new development, increas- ing housing stock and stabilizing rental and real estate prices. Commercial and residential develop- ment is sizzling in Auburn, which is set- ting records for permitted construction value and investment. In 2022, there was well over $74 million in estimated cost of construction. Similarly, the planning and permitting team set a workload record for permitting and inspection. On top of the $74 million was the single largest permit of the year – a new $110 million high school. Including the high school project brought fiscal year 2022 permit value to $184.5 million. e growth was deliberately planned. e city's 2019 strategic plan and updated comprehensive plan placed high priority and clear focus on issues like housing, workforce development, walkability, rec- reation and quality of life. From 2018 through February 2023, 447 multifamily units were permitted and constructed (some are still under construction), along with 131 single- family, duplex and accessory dwelling unit new construction projects. In the past few months, 13 more single and duplex permits were issued; 24 more multi-family units were per- mitted in July. e city expects to see planning board or permit applications for 60 to 96 more units by late summer. Many more rental units are in discus- sion, with a few hundred far along and about 2,000 in early discussion that are promising. ose are a mix of multi, sin- gle and condo projects providing rental and home ownership opportunities. Lending itself to the YIMBY approach is Auburn's sheer size, says Levesque. "Geographically, Auburn is huge — the size of Portland, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Westbrook com- bined," he says. "We recognized that our cost to provide city services was pretty high proportionally and that we needed more residents in order to normalize our tax rate. at was really important." Secondly, while it's great to wish for more people and the city has space for more, it also has another key element. "Location, location, location," says Levesque. "We're an hour from three-quarters of Maine's population. We're close to the mountains and to the ocean. We're the only city that has its own ski resort — Lost Valley. We have the infrastructure. We have all the ingredients needed." Auburn also has great neighbor- hoods. But they were built prior to exclusionary zoning, which was meant to stop growth and resulted in one of the oldest housing stocks in New England. "We wanted to open it up by revamping all our ordinances and loosening them up," he says. A primary initiative was the deletion of the vast majority of the exclusion- ary aspects of zoning, in order to allow Auburn to rebuild and expand. "Once we did that, we started see- ing amazing growth," he says. "We started seeing people discover Auburn for first time. We've had a massive amount of people coming to Auburn, buying homes, building homes, build- ing ADUs, rehabbing." e city is backing up its rezon- ing efforts with financial initiatives funded by the city's $13 million share of American Rescue Plan Act funds, which the city is using on grants to help finance new businesses and improve homes. "We're looking at all impediments to growth and getting rid of them," he says. For example, the city charges only $25 for building permits and waived permit fees for veterans. e zoning updates resulted in a flat mil rate this year because it's brought more commercial develop- ment — bringing new business and expansions, says Levesque. "We recognized that all this new growth in residential would helps our commercial growth," he says. "And it has." More downtown development will be announced shortly, he hints. "We're taking a practical approach," he says. "It's all of the above. I think a lot of government folks focus on a silver bullet: 'If we just get an Amazon warehouse, everything will be great.' at's never the case. You have to take an incremental approach." Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY We have the infrastructure. We have all the ingredients needed. — Jason Levesque City of Auburn Jason Levesque, mayor of Auburn

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