As the Seacoast grows, so grows Southern Maine. However, some communities are trying to slow that growth by putting limits on the number of new housing units that can be built each year.

The reasons behind the caps vary. Some are to preserve a community’s rural character, while others are a kind of time-out for development so town planners can get a picture of how more residents could affect a community’s resources.

A bill making its way through the Maine Legislature may set restrictions on growth caps, in effect telling towns that they have no choice but to grow.

Along the Seacoast, York, Eliot and South Berwick all have growth caps in place. York County is one of Maine’s fastest growing regions. More than 12,000 people moved into the county between 2000 and 2004, according to data compiled by the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

This jump in population has left many worried about the direction of their towns. In January, residents of South Berwick flocked to a planning board meeting to speak out against a proposed zoning law change they feared would harm the downtown village district. Meanwhile in York, town officials are debating changes to their existing ordinance.

The proposed state bill, LD 1535, would place limits on rate of growth ordinances, also known as growth caps. Under the bill, growth caps could only be in place for eight years. If a town wants to keep the growth cap on the books, town officials would have to present to the state reasons why the town must continue to limit growth. There are currently no laws regarding growth caps in New Hampshire.

The  restrictions that have rankled some, however, are the number of building permits allowed in a growth cap. Under the bill, the number of permits allowed could be no lower than half the average number of permits issued in the last 10 years, plus five percent of that number. The bill also requires towns to have a comprehensive Master Plan in place before they can institute a growth cap.

Maine State Rep. Ted Koffman (D-Bar Harbor) is the bill’s sponsor. Koffman said that the excessive use of growth caps in municipal planning can have negative effects on middle and low-income residents.

“They are the people with the smallest pocketbook that have to pay the larger percentage of income into transportation, because they have to travel so far to find housing,” he said. Meanwhile, middle-income residents living in towns with growth caps have to carry a heavier tax burden because fewer people are moving into town.

Discussion about growth caps is still very much in flux, according to Koffman. Members of the House Community Preservation Advisory Committee are still hashing out details on LD 1535, with some members calling for even more restrictions to be placed on growth ordinances. For example, some members want to limit the length of growth ordinances to three years. If a community wanted to extend the growth cap, they would have to wait another 10 years before another growth ordinance could be enacted, according to Koffman.

Other possibilities include forcing communities to make exceptions for affordable housing units and requiring that towns place at least 51 percent of development in “designated growth areas,” places where residential growth is encouraged.

“I think there are some on the committee who think rate-of-growth ordinances are not a good policy tool and should not be allowed at all,” Koffman said. “And others think they should be allowed, but limited in length and constrained in use.”

Of the 29 towns that make up York County, 17 have growth ordinances. Both York and Eliot currently have growth caps in place, though York officials are in the process of revising the ordinance, which was adopted in 2000. York allows 84 building permits to be issued each year, while Eliot allows 48 permits and South Berwick allows 40. Kittery does not have a growth ordinance.

In the last 10 years, York has issued an average of 103 new residential permits per year. That number declined after 2000, when the town adopted its growth cap. However, York town manager Robert Yandow said that the number of 84 permits isn’t set in stone.

“There are exemptions to that where building can take place, but (developers) are not required to get a permit,” he said. “The total number of units may be as high as 125 per year.” Those include exemptions for elderly and senior housing, though that may change as York officials amend the ordinance. Yandow said town officials are considering forcing senior housing projects to apply for growth permits, while adopting exemptions for affordable housing.

“The cap is at 84, but it’s really an artificial cap,” he said. The proposed new ordinance is “more of a way to reflect the actual number of units that get constructed.”

Town officials have not taken a position on LD 1535. However, Mark Badger, York’s code enforcement officer, said the town is following the issue closely. The wait to construct a new home in York is now about four and a half years, according to Badger. 

Over in Eliot, assistant town planner Kate Pelletier said that while the town hasn’t taken a position on LD 1535, she doesn’t have a problem with the bill.

“It wouldn’t really affect us,” she said. “We don’t even use the 48 permits a year we allow.”

Eliot’s growth ordinance took effect in 1978. The town was the first in Maine to adopt a growth ordinance, according to Pelletier.

South Berwick’s growth ordinance allows 40 building permits per year. Jim Fisk, director of planning and economic development for South Berwick, said the town has never reached that limit.

LD 1535 is “not on the radar screen yet,” and town officials have not taken a position on the bill, Fisk said. Meanwhile, he’s keeping track of developments in other communities. “I’ve … followed what’s been going on with York and how they’re proceeding,” he said.

Koffman expects LD 1535 to make it out of committee and to the full House for a vote sometime in the next few weeks. But whatever happens, Koffman said, discussion will continue on growth caps and how growth should be directed.

“The game is not over,” he said.