SOUTH SHORE ROAD

 

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

In the fall of 2017, North Haven Sustainable Housing (NHSH) received a gift of 11.4 acres of property on the South Shore Road, adjacent to the Mullen’s Head entrance road. The donation was intended to support year-round housing ownership opportunities for island residents through the sale of five lots and homes on the property. After seventeen years of experience working to create and preserve housing opportunities on North Haven, NHSH believes there is a continuing need for quality homeownership opportunities on the island. Given the lack of available housing stock that is affordable to year-round residents, NHSH intends to build five homes on the property that will be sold at an affordable price to year round residents. (NHSH is still exploring the possibility of constructing homes that would be available as year round rentals, based on the availability of funding opportunities that may be available to subsidize the cost of construction for that purpose). NHSH intends to utilize grant opportunities, donations and other funding sources to subsidize some of the site development and utility construction costs and finance the construction of each home prior to sale to approved buyers. The construction of homes will take place over a period of time, as NHSH is able to raise and borrow the capital to develop site and construct the homes, and as interested year-round buyers are qualified and able to purchase the homes.

 

PLANNING PROCESS

Preliminary Site Plan of the South Shore Road produced by engineering firm, Tom Fowler, P.E., for North Haven Sustainable Housing showing preliminary lot and road layout and potential housing sites.

Preliminary Site Plan of the South Shore Road produced by engineering firm, Tom Fowler, P.E., for North Haven Sustainable Housing showing preliminary lot and road layout and potential housing sites.

NHSH submitted an application to the North Haven planning board and received approval based on the subdivision ordinance that was amended in May of 2019 requirements that contains provisions to encourage year-round housing on the island. NHSH has worked with a civil engineer, Tom Fowler, P.E., to develop the site plan, engineering, surveying and lot layout to conform with the requirements of the subdivision ordinance. In addition, NHSH contracted with S.W. Cole Engineering Inc. to conduct a hydrogeological study to assess the impact of this housing development on the quality and quantity of water to adjacent homeowners and to the aquifer. The study revealed that the annual rainfall data and soil conditions on the site would result in enough water infiltration to more than adequately support the number of proposed homes in this development.

 

HOUSING ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

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North Haven Sustainable Housing is working with Holland and Foley Architects from Northport, Maine to utilize five of their “Small Planet Homes” designs which range from 1100 square feet to 1675 square feet.

Each design will be constructed as a “stick-built”, slab on grade, two-story home with a focus on energy efficiency and efficient utilization of space. Each homebuyer will have the option of selecting from an assortment of five different house designs that fit the the qualifications of financing of each homebuyer and that allow for the home to be reasonably priced based on the subsidization that NHSH will provide for each home. Within each design, approved homebuyers will have an assortment of design options that will help customize the character of the home to fit the buyer, without compromising the integrity and engineering of the architecture and structure of the home design.

“Milk and Honey” Design, by Holland and Foley Architects. One of five housing designs by Holland and Foley currently selected by NHSH for this project.

“Milk and Honey” Design, by Holland and Foley Architects. One of five housing designs by Holland and Foley currently selected by NHSH for this project.

“Family Plan” Design, by Holland and Foley Architects. One of five housing designs by Holland and Foley currently selected by NHSH for this project.

“Family Plan” Design, by Holland and Foley Architects. One of five housing designs by Holland and Foley currently selected by NHSH for this project.

ELIGIBILIY AND AFFORDABILITY COVENANTS

The South Shore project is designed to serve year-round residents of North Haven who intend to live in the homes year-round, who don’t own other property on North Haven, and who are able to qualify for financing from a lender to purchase the the homes. NHSH has eligibility guidelines for homeownership projects (similar to what have been used for past NHSH home sales):

  • Applicants must agree to live in the house year-round and agree to abide by our affordability covenants (specific language that is included in the deed to a property that restricts the resale of the property in specific ways with the goal of keeping the home affordable and in the year-round community upon resale).

  • Applicants for NHSH’s ownership projects must earn 200% or less of area median income (AMI) for the household. For 2018, the area median household income was $56,173 (according to MaineHousing’s Homeownership Affordability Index)

  • Applicants must be capable of obtaining bank financing or otherwise verifiable financing for ownership projects. NHSH can provide information and guidance in the process of obtaining financing, including specific opportunities provided thorough Maine State Housing Authority, in particular the Maine Housing First Home Loan Program.

TIMELINE AND HOME PRICING

North Haven Sustainable Housing intends to keep the homes as affordable as possible and to achieve this goal, NHSH will subsidize the overall cost of the project to cover some of the development and construction costs. The cost of each home will depend on the size of the home and other factors and decisions made by the buyer of the home. NHSH is currently undertaking the challenging work of estimating the costs of construction for several “model” homes designed by our architects. NHSH will work with both our architects and local contractors to try to determine how to best make the homes high quality, and still remain affordable. The first step for each homeowner is to start working toward finding financing from a lender (a local bank, MaineHousing, etc.) and to fill out the application and letter of interest to North Haven Sustainable Housing.

NHSH received approval from the North Haven planning board in the Spring of 2021, and began developing the road and utilities infrastructure on the site as of the Spring of 2022. NHSH is in the process of fundraising to acquire the necessary financing in order to be able to begin the process of construction of the site infrastructure and construction of the first homes.

APPLICATION PROCESS

North Haven Sustainable Housing intends to begin accepting applications as soon as possible. NHSH will be hosting a public information session to provide interested homebuyers with all the information about this project in late 2022, and will begin the process of working with interested homeowners. If you would like to discuss this or another housing opportunity with someone from NHSH directly, you can CONTACT us here for more information. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you with housing in any way that we can.