SUMMER LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

MEREDA successfully worked with the Maine State Legislature to enact two bills this session: LD 975, which aligns Maine’s elevator safety standards to the standards in the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC); and LD 1289, which enables the transfer of an unfinished commercial condominium.

These two bills were passed by the legislature and signed into law. Our third bill, LD 772, An Act to Establish a Process to Vest Rights for Land Use Permit Applicants, will be carried over to the Second Regular Session of the 131st Legislature for consideration next year. This bill, which would provide that a land use applicant is subject to the ordinance standards in place on the date on which the application is submitted, is intended to lower the risk and ensure greater predictability for housing creators by preventing retroactive ordinances from being adopted with the intent or killing one project.