Habitat for Humanity seeks sites for homes

BANGOR – With spring here and the construction season just around the corner, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor is eager to get started on its 10th house.

The nonprofit group is on the verge of announcing its choice of a partnering family and has lined up the volunteers and funds needed to get the job done.

What the group now lacks may be the most important component: Land.

During a recent interview, Habitat representatives Vinal Applebee and Monique Gautreau put out a call for land – or vacant houses – in Bangor or Brewer.

Ideally, the group would like the property to be donated. However, Applebee and Gautreau said Habitat might be able to buy property if it is priced within the organization’s means.

“We’re always seeking land, but we can’t buy property unless the price is really, really reasonable,” said Applebee, a member of the Greater Bangor chapter’s board of directors and vice president of Ames A/E Architects and Engineers of Bangor.

Since it was founded in 1988, the Greater Bangor chapter has built nine homes. Of those, seven were in Bangor and two in Brewer. Six of the Bangor homes were built on land donated by the city.

Habitat for Humanity wants to use the land to build homes for families that can’t afford a loan from a bank.

According to Gautreau, who helps screen applicants, Habitat participants, known as “partnering families,” must demonstrate need, the ability to repay an interest-free loan on the house and a willingness to provide “sweat equity,” or in-kind labor.

The idea, Gautreau said, is to use donations of land, building materials and labor to keep mortgage costs as low as possible so housing costs remain within reach of partnering families.

The group is eyeing a 2.11-acre city-owned parcel bordered by Third, Fifth, Carroll and Vine streets. It is unclear what the city would do with the land.

The parcel is large enough to accommodate five single-family homes.

During a Jan. 27 neighborhood meeting at Vine Street School, Applebee presented several possible configurations of homes that could be built there.

Some neighborhood residents at the meeting voiced concern that the addition of the homes might hurt the value of the neighborhood. Others wanted to know whether current residents would have the option to buy the parcel. Some wanted to see the land used as a park.

City staff noted the plan would require tens of thousands of dollars in new infrastructure.

“We’re not developers,” Applebee acknowledged last week.

Applebee said Habitat representatives planned to return to the city with a scaled-down version of their original proposal, this time calling for two houses.

No date had been set for the presentation as of Monday.

For more information or to contribute property, call the local chapter at 942-8977 or visit its Web site at www.habitatbangor.org.