Easing ‘in-law apartment’ rules

Change would make it easier to build accessory buildings in Scarborough, including in beachfront communities

SCARBOROUGH — If the argument against moving in your mother-in-law was always that it’s just too big a hassle under Scarborough zoning rules, you’re in luck – or not, as the case may be.

It’s been almost a decade since Scarborough began allowing the construction of accessory dwelling units, more popularly known as “in-law apartments.” Before that, if you wanted to build a room over the garage, or anywhere else within 75 feet of your home, it could not have “separate housekeeping.” That meant no kitchenette, no bathroom, no laundry room.

According to Town Planner Dan Bacon, when accessory units were introduced to Scarborough’s architectural landscape with a 2003 zoning change, there was fear that allowing the extra living quarters might somehow “impact of change the character of single-family neighborhoods.” So, standards for construction were made “fairly stringent.” Among other things, each accessory unit application was treated as a “special exception,” requiring review by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

But the zoning board has been in the habit of approving these applications – at a rate of “about 10-15” per year – with “little discussion or issues,” said Bacon. With that in mind, and with existing accessory units having failed to ravage the culture of the community, planning department staff held a focus group late last year with area builders and other residents “familiar [with] and interested in these standards.”

The end result, met with enthusiastic support at “first reading” by the Town Council Jan. 18, was a wholesale relaxing of rules.

“I love this. I think it’s great,” said Councilor Jessica Holbrook. “I think it’s a perfect step in the absolute right direction. A lot of families are looking at taking in a mother or a father, and a lot of families also are taking in kids coming back from college.”

“There’s some pretty major tweaking going on here,” said Council Chairman Ron Ahlquist. “It certainly reflects the times we live in, and I think that’s good.”

Making it easier to build an accessory unit, Holbrook said, would help the town achieve its goal of providing more affordable housing for middle-income families.

However, given the local economy, relaxed the rules may help certain other homeowners as well, particularly those who built accessory units before or after the 2003 zoning change without proper review.

“In many cases,” said Bacon, those units went undiscovered by the town until the owner tried to refinance the property. Those homeowners either had to come into compliance with the standards, or else forego the second or amended mortgages they had hoped to obtain.

“I suspect a number of those [people] may want to come back through our normal administrative process now and make those a lawful accessory unit,” said Town Manager Tom Hall.

What will constitute a lawful accessory unit could still change. The Planning Board will review the recommendations at a Jan. 30 meeting, sending them back to the council with any suggested changes as soon as Feb. 1. Public hearings will be held at both stages.

As drafted, the new rules still try to ensure that secondary units are truly accessory to the main house. They are not meant to be actual apartment units, Bacon said. Although nothing prevents the homeowner from charging rent for the space, or from renting to non-family members, occupancy remains limited to two people and the unit must share utilities – like power, water and sewer –with the main home. Also, each home may have no more than one accessory unit.

Still, if the proposed changes are adopted, accessory units would not require Zoning Board of Appeal approval. Because such construction would become a permitted use, accessory units would no longer have to be registered with the town. Also, they could be built on lots of less than 15,000 square feet, from which they remained banned after the 2003 zoning change.

That would introduce in-law apartments to Scarborough’s beachfront communities, like Higgins Beach, as well as to dense subdivisions like Eastern Village and Dunstan Crossing. A mandate that property owners always be present also has been cut, which makes it easier to add an accessory unit to a seasonal home.

Distance requirements added in 2007 out of fear that accessory units could be put in outbuildings, effectively creating two homes on one lot, also are up for review. Under the proposal, an outbuilding, such a barn, can be up to 100 feet from a home and still host an accessory unit, while the requirement that at least 50 percent of the outbuilding’s floor space be dedicated to new-unit living quarters has been eliminated.

The new rules also have scalability, meaning larger units than previously allowed can be added, so long as they remain proportionally smaller than the main house. Outside staircases also will now be permitted, so long as they are not visible from the street.

Scarborough rescue fees on the rise

SCARBOROUGH — The cost of an ambulance ride in Scarborough will jump 25 percent under a price hike approved unanimously Jan. 18 by the Town Council, following a recommendation from Comstar Ambulance Billing of Rowley, Mass.

Late last year, Town Manager Tom Hall took advantage of a vacancy in his collections/excise office, juggling other positions and outsourcing the town’s EMS billing to avoid filling the post. As low bidder, Comstar agreed to take 4 percent of whatever payment it collects, starting with a patient’s insurance provider, including Medicare, MaineCare, then trying private health, automobile, workers’ compensation, or homeowner’s policies, where applicable. 

“It will cost us no more than it did to do the billing in house these past 25 years,” said said Fire Chief Bruce Thurlow, “and probably less, frankly. But they are professionals at what they do, they’ve very much up on all of the federal regulations, and their providing education to make sure we are doing the best job documenting the services we provide. All in all, I think it’s a win.”

Part of the Comstar’s three-year contract with Scarborough called on it to review the rates charged by the town. Although rates have tracked maximum allowable Medicaid rates, the basic structure has not changed in 10 years, Thurlow said.

Comstar’s recommendation was to charge 25 percent above the 2012 Medicaid rates, which Thurlow said did not cover the actual cost to deliver rescue services in town.

“We’re just trying to put things in line with what other cities and towns around us charge, so it makes more sense,” said council Chairman Ron Ahlquist.

Over the past five years, when doing its own billing, Scarborough succeeded in collecting between 78 and 86 percent of all dollars invoiced at the maximum Medicaid rate. The rest was written off when people proved unable to pay.

Under the new rates, emergency transport with basic life support jumps nearly $87 –from $349 to $436, while the price changed per mile of transport climbs from $6.86 to $8.61. That rate still leaves them below other local municipalities. Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, for example, both charge $10 per mile. The base rate for the highest level of medical service, advance life support level 2, will go up from $599 to $750.

“If someone is uninsured or has a balance due for co-pay or insufficient insurance coverage, Comstar will bill them individually according to the town’s billing policy,” said Thurlow.

That policy provides exceptions to the billing process for certain situations and allows residents to set up payment plans, when necessary. Billing may be waived or reduced for any balance not paid by insurance for senior citizens on Medicare but without supplemental coverage, and for cases of “hardship.”

“This will not cost the individual taxpayer more than their [insurance] plans will pay,” said Councilor Judith Roy.

According to Thurlow, it costs Scarborough an average of $656.70 per billable call to provide EMS services.

Cape Elizabeth's Dill enters Senate primary

REGION — State Sen. Cynthia Dill has made it official - she wants to go to Washington.

On New Year's Day, the Cape Elizabeth Democrat began sounding out the possibility of entering the primary race, in hopes of being the one selected by party faithful to try and unseat U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe. On Monday, Dill confirmed she has entered the race.

"Yes, I have mailed the official paperwork to the Secretary of the United States Senate declaring my candidacy and registering the Dill for U.S. Senate committee," Dill wrote in direct message on Facebook.

By deadline Tuesday, Dill had not returned calls or emails requesting details on her campaign team or scheduled fundraising events.

A civil rights attorney who has run her own practice since 1994, Dill, 47, says she entered politics due to her alarm over George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. A run at the Cape Elizabeth Town Council the following year came up six votes short, but she had better luck with the Legislature in 2006. In May, halfway through her third term in the State House, Dill won a special election to fill out the state Senate term of Larry Bliss, who resigned to take a job in California.

In a report filed Jan. 17 with the Maine Ethics Commission, the Dill’s political action committee, Dill Leadership PAC, showed cash on hand as of Dec. 31 to be $48.39. The largest expense for the last quarter of 2011 was $1,000 paid to Dill as a "fee to write blog." Dill posted three blog entries on her site during that timeframe. A similar blog writing fee – this time for $3,000 – was paid to Dill from her PAC in the third quarter.

On Friday, Ben Pollard, 39, owner of Portland-based construction company Pollard Builders, announced that he, too, had entered the Democratic Party primary. Both must gather at least 2,000 valid signatures by March 15 to get on the June primary ballot.

They join previously announced candidates Matt Dunlap, 46, a former secretary of state from Old Town, and state Rep. Jon Hinck, 58, of Portland.

Snowe, 64, has been in Congress since 1978 and will be seeking her fourth term in the upper chamber. She does have two primary challengers of her own, Scott D'Amboise of Lisbon Falls and Andrew Ian Dodge of Harpswell.

March break: Cape schools consider cutting Feb., April vacations in name of ‘educational continuity’

CAPE ELIZABETH — The traditional winter and spring vacations from school are on the chopping block in Cape Elizabeth, in favor of a single, extended break in March.

According to first year Superintendent Meredith Nadeau, the move was suggested by “a couple of different individuals” on staff, who claim it would enhance “educational continuity.” In other words, one vacation between January and June, instead of two, means more consecutive days in class, and the hope that would translate into greater success on tests.

“I’m not aware of any district in Maine that has taken on this calendar, but there certainly have been perennial conversations around the idea,” said Nadeau. “Everybody kind of wants to see who’s going to make the first move.”

Before any move is made, however, school officials want to take public comment. Residents are asked to email their reaction to calendar@capeelizabethschools.org, or else provide feedback by calling the superintendent’s office at 799-2217. As of Tuesday, about 50 comments had been been submitted, said Nadeau.

The two proposals on the table for the 2012-2013 school year include a traditional approach and the new March vacation system. Both would include the 175 class days required by state law, ranging from Sept. 4 to June 19 (assuming all five “snow days” are used.)

Under the traditional calendar, there would be a four-day break from Tuesday, Feb. 19 to Friday, Feb. 22, for a full week off when the Feb. 18 Presidents Day holiday is thrown in. The second break would last from Friday, April 12 to Friday, April 19, including Patriots Day on April 15.

The single-vacation proposal would still give time off for Presidents Day, Patriots Day and April 12, but the longer breaks would be consolidated into a single vacation lasting eight school days, from Wednesday, March 6 to Friday, March 15.

The new system would not impact grading periods for the high school, which is on a semester schedule. However, there may be “some minor” alterations to when report cards would be issued at the middle school, which does its academic work according to a trimester routine.

Nadeau says the teacher’s union has been receptive to the proposed change, which can be made unilaterally, without approval from the Department of Education. Baring a vocal chord of discontent from the community, the only stumbling block might be placed by the Portland Arts& Technology High School (PATHS), which some Cape students attend for career and technical training.

State education department rules dictate that the PATHS’ academic calendar may differ by no more than nine days from any of the partner school districts within its 60-mile service radius. PATHS has yet to issue its 2012-2013 calendar, says Nadeau, and much will depend on who it blends with Cape’s March vacation proposal.

“We certainly won’t issue a calendar that does not meet the statute,” said Nadeau.

The public also is invited to participate in one of two community forums this week, at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Jan. 26 and at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28. Both meetings will take place in the Pond Cove/Middle School cafetorium, and although attendees may raise the calendar proposal, the sessions are meant to be workshops on the district’s mission statement, last updated 10 years ago.

                 

“Its possible that the [calendar] topic might come up, but it certainly wont be the focus,” said Nadeau. “These meetings really are meant to be an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to share their hopes and dreams for student outcomes and expectations for the schools' work, as well as perspectives on the schools' strengths, challenges and opportunities.”

"Our target date is to try to bring a revised vision and mission statement back to the [school] board for the March meeting," said Nadeau. "We'll see how that goes. It's not a simple process, but preparing a mission and vision statement is the foundation work, really. It helps to give a sense of finding out that everybody is on the same page. It finds out what the big ideas are and helps with aligning budget priorities.  

“Events like this tend to be very energizing and invigorating for everyone involved,” she said.

"It should be an interesting opportunity to hear what our community thinks about where our schools should be and what it values,” agreed School Board Chairman Mary Townsend. “I'll look forward to attending at least one of those [sessions].”

Funding fears freeze start of new library

CAPE ELIZABETH — If there’s any town in Maine that can raise money to build a new library, it’s Cape Elizabeth. Everybody seems to agree on that. But even in Maine’s most affluent community, these are strange times, and people need coaxing before they’ll warm to the idea of opening their pocketbooks for a public project.

More importantly, potential donors need to see any new library as a “cultural center,” and not just a repository for books.

Library officials had hoped to raise as much as $3 million in private donations for a new library, with the expectation of bonding the rest of the $8.5 million project. A referendum vote was expected for this November. However, with support for the project still soft, Demont urged trustees to delay the referendum until June 2013, at the earliest.

“We think it’s too fast and too furious and, basically, setting you up for far less support if you tried to push this forward this year,” Bob Demont, a consultant hired to assess the fundraising potential of the project, said in a Jan. 17 presentation to town-appointed trustees and members of the library’s nonprofit fundraising foundation. “Those communities that have launched too quickly in these troubling times into public referendums have found that it’s been problematic.

“We believe you will raise twice as much money if you take a year and plan for a capital campaign rather than rush to a November referendum,” said Demont, adding that, in order to successfully win support for a new library, proponents must push it as a community and cultural center.

“If you talk about the value of the library as a gathering center, people will think more and more that they are investing in their community, as well as in a building for books and technology that most people have in their own homes, frankly,” said Demont. “Libraries are changing right now and it’s confusing to people who wonder if they are still relevant.”

“If people emotionally experience the need and the value, they will contribute,” agreed trustee Chairwoman RuthAnne Haley. “We have to educate the community and get them to embrace this wonderful place that we envision, or to be without what we have.”

Given $30,000 last September to assess fundraising potential for an $8.5 million library reconstruction project, Demont Associates, of Portland, interviewed 57 local residents, including library trustees, foundation board members, town officials, a construction study oversight committee and people identified as likely donors. Results of an 18-point questionnaire indicate the money is out there –– more than half of all respondents felt there are folks in town capable of making $500,000 donations – but few seemed eager to donate themselves.

While 81 percent said they’d give something, a mere 26 percent deemed Thomas Memorial Library a “priority” for their own philanthropic gift-giving. More alarmingly, only 74 percent feel Cape Elizabeth needs a new library at all, despite a widely circulated 2007 report that lists 102 structural and design deficiencies in the building, which is actually an amalgamation of five separate structures, including three one-room schoolhouses, each at least a century old, moved to the site and linked via two connecting annexes.

According to the 2007 needs assessment, prepared by Himmel & Wilson Library Consultants, of Milton, Wis., problems at Thomas Memorial Library include floors in the children’s wing that can’t handle the weight load of books, aisles in the adult wing that do not meet ADA standards, issues with moisture and humidity (a friend neither to books nor computers), poor ventilation, and no facilities to run the wiring required of modern libraries.

“Another of the gross inadequacies is that the heating plant and control systems are just completely obsolete,” Scherma said. “Plus, nothing here was designed with any concept of modern plumbing involved.”

"If this was a school building, it'd be shut down," said Haley.

The Himmel & Wilson report concluded that the cost of renovating any part of the existing library is too great and the historical significance of the component pieces too low, to justify saving the structure. Consequently, Casaccio's original design, presented to focus groups in June, was a complete rebuild, which clocked in at 23,000 square feet.

However, public reaction to the first design prompted a do-over. The most recent concept captures a more Colonial-era feel by retaining the section of the library that fronts Scott Dyer Road, built in 1910 as the Pond Cove School, and extending the new wing to two floors.

The two-story design also preserves the front lawn (where a performance space may be added) and a buffer zone between the library and the school and room for 50 parking spots.

In order to match up correctly with the old Pond Cove section, the lower floor of the new library would be sunk several feet into the ground. Patrons coming through the new front door would first have to descend “seven or eight steps” to that lower section, which would contain meeting rooms, storage, mechanical rooms and space for the Historical Society, or a few steps up, to the collection.

The Pond Cove building would house the children’s section, while the primary collection, and the young adult section would all be contained in a new wing behind the school.

The roof over the main section would have three traditional dormers on each side of a hipped roof.

A CLOSER LOOKA planning study for a new Cape Elizabeth Library, presented Jan. 17 by Portland-based fundraising consultant Demont Associates, compares results of a survey of 53 potential donors (CAPE) with the “Demont Positive Benchmark” (DPB) – a minimum threshold of support Bob Demont says his company has found over its 30-year history to be critical to a successful capital campaign. Soft numbers in some areas prompted Demont to recommend that the town put off a bond referendum until June, 2013, at the earliest.

                                                        CAPE  DPB

Has positive image of current library 51%     82%

Agrees with need for new library       74        95

Accepts proposed building plan         74        87

Likes private/public funding method  85        87

Deems library a philanthropic priority          26        50

Receptive to a capital campaign         36        66

Thinks 2012 “right time” for fundraising       67        86

Thinks $25,000 donors available        59        41

Thinks $100,000 donors available      54        29

Thinks $500,000 donors available      52        33

Thinks $3 million goal attainable        40        30

Willing to donate money         81        80

Willing to volunteer    40        66

Willing to take a leadership role          23        35

Faith in trustee’s fundraising ability   10        39