Land Conservation & Affordable Housing on Mount Desert Island
Maine Coast Heritage Trust Protects Traditional Access to Northeast Creek and Helps Island Family Obtain Affordable Housing
Mount Desert: Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) recently helped advance two community goals—shore access and affordable housing—in a conservation project on Northeast Creek in Bar Harbor. “We’re thrilled to have protected the traditional canoe access to Northeast Creek, which has such a long history of public use and enjoyment. Just as important, this project allowed us to help a local working family solve the challenge of finding affordable year-round housing here on the Island,” says MCHT Project Manager Brian Reilly.
When a traditional access point to Northeast Creek from Route 3 was threatened by sale on the open market, MCHT purchased the 3-acre property last year. The parcel included an adjacent house and outbuildings that were not critical to the conservation values of the creek and were therefore appropriate to re-sell to a private buyer. The Trust will work with Acadia National Park to maintain the undeveloped creek frontage as permanent and publicly accessible open space. Working with the Island Housing Trust, MCHT placed permanent covenants on the adjacent house lot to ensure its affordability, and then sold the house in December to Christina Costello and John Sanders, a local nurse and firefighter. Reflecting on the purchase, Christina said, “We are truly grateful to the Island Housing Trust and Maine Coast Heritage Trust for the opportunity to live near the places we work and near our community of friends. It already feels like more than a house, it feels like home”. L.S. Robinson Real Estate charged a reduced commission to help facilitate the sale due to its community value.
Commenting on the project, Chris Spruce, Executive Director of Island Housing Trust said, “Increasingly we’re seeing benefits of working with land conservation organizations and other partners to advance our mission of affordable housing. Putting a family into an affordable home and helping protect an important ecological resource is a true win/win.” Island Housing Trust encourages viable, year-round island communities by facilitating reasonably priced rental and purchasing opportunities for the work force on Mount Desert Island.
In 2008, MCHT conserved more than 3,000 acres of coastal land in Maine, including a number of important projects on MDI. MCHT’s conservation success on MDI and across the Maine coast reflect statewide and national trends of balancing economic considerations like housing with the protection of places that preserve the quality of life for local communities. Reilly says MCHT is looking for new and effective ways to work with landowners and other partners to meet the needs of the people of MDI.
