Cumberland County does not regulate ADUs and could not impose an owner-occupancy requirement if it tried. Under 30-A MRS § 4364-B (LD 2003), no Maine municipality may require the property owner to live on a lot in order to build or rent an ADU.
Owner-occupancy is a frequent ADU restriction in other states, but Maine has expressly preempted it. 30-A MRS § 4364-B provides that 'a municipality shall allow the construction or occupancy of an accessory dwelling unit on a lot even if the owner of the lot where the accessory dwelling unit is located does not reside in a dwelling unit on that lot.' Because Cumberland County has no zoning ordinance, there is no county-level owner-occupancy rule to begin with, and any municipality within the county (Portland, Brunswick, Falmouth, Scarborough, etc.) that retains an owner-occupancy ADU clause in its land use code is preempted by state law. Pre-LD 2003 owner-occupancy ordinances are unenforceable to the extent they conflict with § 4364-B. Note: this is distinct from the separate question of short-term rental owner-occupancy (some Maine towns require owner-occupancy for STR licensing under their home-rule STR ordinance) — LD 2003 does not preempt STR owner-occupancy rules, only the underlying ADU allowance and tenancy.
There is no county penalty. If a municipal CEO denies an ADU permit because the owner does not live on the lot, the applicant may appeal to the local Board of Appeals under 30-A MRS § 2691 and, if necessary, to the Superior Court via Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 80B citing direct conflict with 30-A MRS § 4364-B.
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