The Mountain View affordable housing project moves closer to developer's plan to build 28 one- and two-bedroom apartments at a building that previously served as a sanatorium in Fairfield.
By Kaitlin Budion Morning Sentinel
A possible site for housing is in disrepair Wednesday on Mountain Avenue in Fairfield. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
FAIRFIELD — Recent action by the Town Council to approve an updated tax break means the Mountain View affordable housing project is on track for people to move in a renovated building by the fall of 2022. (Click HERE for original article in Central Maine Morning Sentinel.)
The project, run by Portland-based developers Bateman Partners LLC, would convert the existing brick building on the property into an apartment building with 28 units — 14 one-bed, one-bath apartments and 14 two-bed, one-bath apartments.
“It’s a great use of this property and fills a great need that we have here the community,” Fairfield Town Manager Michelle Flewelling said at a recent council meeting.
All of the units will require that the head of the household be at least 55 years old, and will be restricted to those who make 60% or less than the median income for Somerset County. The median household income for 2015-2019 for Somerset County was $44,256, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The building will also feature a community space, community garden, laundry room and 56 onsite parking spots. There is no anticipated commercial or non-residential use for the building.
The building itself was originally constructed in 1954 and previously functioned as a sanatorium. The developers are working to get the building added to the historic registry, Flewelling said, and has been approved at the state level, and is waiting on federal approval.
“It has great bones and it just needs somebody to come in and give it a facelift and an update it, and all of that. And it would make a great location,” Flewelling said.
The Fairfield Town Council met June 23, and approved a change to the TIF district surrounding the property, the latest step forward for the project.
Back in 2007 there had been a different developer interested in building housing at the location, Flewelling said. So the council created a TIF district with the 50 Mountain Ave. property and a nearby property that was meant for a Waterville Housing Authority project.
Neither project materialized, and when Bateman Partners LLC took over, the council wanted to create a new district that would last the full 30-year term. The previous district would have expired in fiscal year 2036-37.
The new district only includes the property for this project and the funds the town collects from the district will go into a fund designated for future housing projects.
The district still needs to be approved by the Maine State Housing Authority, Flewelling said, but she does not anticipate any difficulties with that process.
Flewelling said that developers plan to start construction as soon as all of the logistics have been approved, and hope to move people into the building around the fall of 2022.
Also discussed at the Town Council meeting was the process with the Department of Environmental Protection for a possible privately owned transfer station in Fairfield.
The transfer station is still in the very early stages of the process, Flewelling said, and would need to first get permits from the department, and be permitted through the town.
The station would be owned by Gregory’s Disposal, and the proposed location is in the industrial park in Fairfield.
The idea was brought up at the meeting, Flewelling said, because once the DEP begins its process there is a specific window of time that the town can submit written comment and request a public hearing. The council did confirm that they would like a public hearing once the department reaches that point in the process.
