Residents frustrated by smoking in HUD-funded housing say they 'can't afford anywhere else'

Jan. 16—Some days, the smell of cigarette and marijuana smoke is so strong in Mary Ann Allen's non-smoking apartment building that she sleeps with the windows open, even when the temperature drops below freezing.

"This is very unhealthy for me," said Allen, who has stage 4 cancer, asthma and COPD.

The smell is so persistent that her physical therapist has stopped coming to her apartment for appointments and her nurse wants to meet in a common area on a different floor.

Over the past year and a half, Allen and two neighbors at Edgewood Apartments in Kennebunk have repeatedly notified the company that owns the building, but they say nothing has changed. A company representative says the complaints are being taken seriously, but it is difficult to prove where the smoke is coming from.

"We're doing our best to address it," said Ken Berry, director of property management for Accessible Space Inc., the Minnesota-based nonprofit that manages the property and provides accessible and affordable housing in 25 states.

Edgewood Apartments provides housing to low-income people with disabilities who receive vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The 15-unit building is ASI's only property in Maine.

There is no federal requirement for private nonprofit housing providers to adopt a smoke-free housing policy, though they are strongly encouraged to do so. ASI implemented a smoke-free policy at all of its properties more than a decade ago, Berry said.

At Edgewood, smoking is banned inside the facility and within 25 feet of its doors and windows, according to residents' lease documents. Because of HUD program requirements, the possession and use of any controlled substance — including marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law — is not allowed on the property. Violating those policies is grounds for lease termination.

"Management shall take reasonable steps to enforce the smoke-free housing policy to make the complex smoke-free. Management is not required to take steps in response to smoking unless notice is received that smoking has occurred," the lease states.

VERIFICATION AND CONFIRMATION

Cindy Kalkhoff, who has lived at Edgewood for eight years, first complained about smoking in the building in August 2021. She has since filed numerous reports about the smell of cigarettes and marijuana but is dissatisfied with the company's response.

In May 2022, Kalkhoff reported to ASI that "continual and daily" use of marijuana in the building was "producing heavy toxic carcinogenic smoke and chemicals that pervade into the second floor hallway and seep into apartments." She said the smoke was causing dizziness, nausea, congestion and breathing problems.