So what is Affordable Housing? Some people think it's low income housing. Others think it includes middle class housing or call it workforce housing. I like to think of it broadly, more what works for our community. Scarborough needs housing for everyone who contributes to our community and makes up our broad middle class.

Those of us of an older age still remember the struggle to make those rent or mortgage payments of early adulthood. I suspect many others feel the same and support Affordable Housing. That support has shown itself in the practices and policies the Town has followed. Let me explain two of the tools we have used to develop an effective program.

First, Scarbrough's 2006 Comprehensive Plan called for the strategic determination of neighborhoods that could accommodate affordable apartments, condos and compact clustered housing. For a decade after its 2006 adoption zoning reviews took place to accomplish these objectives. The result was to allow greater density in areas with sewer and water and exclude areas far removed from the center of town (primarily west of the highway). Reasonably priced apartment housing such as Carrier Woods off Mussey Road is an example of density zoning at work.

Second, the Town has been strategic in using Contract Zones (agreements to modify the zoning so long as the changes still conform to the spirit of the zone) and Tax Increment Financing zones (TIF's collect taxes from improvements in the district that can then be used to pay for infrastructure improvements like roads and sewer). Contract Zones have been used to create Affordable Housing reserve funds. The Beacon at Gateway contributed $700,000 last year and Piper Shores will soon be contributing $250,000, both under Contract Zones. Scarborough used funds from this account to allow the Southgate project at Dunstan to move forward. TIF's have provided tax rebates for both Bessey Commons and Southgate and $100,000 has been committed to building 40 additional units at Bessey Commons (called Bessey Commons II).

This is an important and complex topic that can be a lot to digest in one sitting. With that in mind, in the next edition of the newsletter I will talk about two more tools the Town uses to develop and promote affordable housing.

This summer, Scarborough is working with ecomaine and other local communities to implement a community outreach program to promote better recycling. My co-intern, Thorvald Arnell, and I spend time at the Town's silver bullets each week, chatting with residents about what should and should not be recycled and why. Tuesday mornings, we work along the recycling route, checking recycling bins and tagging them based on what is in them: green tags mean the bin only contains recyclables, yellow tags mean the bin needs a little work, and a red-tagged bin will not be picked up because it contains too many things that can't be recycled. Things that can't be recycled are called contamination.

 

By far, the biggest contaminants we have seen in bins and silver bullets are plastic bags or wrappings. The tricky thing is that they are recyclable, just not with ecomaine. They can be brought to stores, like Hannaford, Walmart, Shaws, or Target to be recycled.

 

We've also seen a lot of bagged recyclables. I understand why so many people bag their recyclables, and I used to do it, too. I thought bagging recycling made it easier to handle and sort. I know now that I was wrong. Ecomaine staff don't know what the bags contain, and for their safety, they do not open the bags to see what's inside. The bags and their contents are treated as garbage and not recycled. Please keep your recyclables loose in your bins so they can be properly recycled.

 

Thorvald and I have had a great time working for Scarborough so far. We're happy to see that so many residents are very receptive and understanding about our positions and what we're doing. People are willing to listen and learn, and we've been so glad to talk with residents who didn't have the greatest bins and help them understand the recycling process. We're very excited to continue with our work, so if you see two official looking, vest-wearing folks driving and walking around Tuesday mornings, or sitting under the sun at the silver bullets, do not be afraid to come up to us and talk or ask questions! Let us know your concerns - we are here to help!