Homeless people cross Bartlett Street on March 14 on their way to the warming center just before 10 p.m. when the doors open at Calvary United Methodist Church on Sabattus Street in Lewiston. City councilors are preparing to request proposals for a city-run shelter and looking to expand where shelters can be located. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file

LEWISTON — As the city readies a request for proposals for a city-run shelter, the City Council is also looking to expand where shelters can be located.

The council could vote as early as next month on a series of changes to the city’s shelter ordinance and overlay zone, which were implemented by the previous City Council in 2022 following a controversial moratorium.

Ever since the current council was sworn in this year, elected officials have appeared largely in favor of making the ordinance less restrictive as the city continues to face a homelessness crisis and pursues a city-run shelter.

A previous ad hoc shelter committee, as well as the Planning Board, both recommended that the overlay zone be amended to allow greater flexibility.

The City Council, Planning Board and an ad hoc committee tasked with the shelter project have all recently discussed the existing ordinances and proposed changes, but questions remain on which specific amendments will be forwarded.

There has been consensus, however, that the overlay zone, which stipulates where shelters can be located, is far too restrictive. Some have argued that it should be abandoned altogether. But other specifics, like buffers between shelters and schools or day cares, have received more debate.

Jon Connor, director of planning and code enforcement, said staff is still compiling comments from the boards, and is awaiting feedback from the ad hoc committee this week “so that we have a full picture of which direction the council would like to move.”

City Administrator Brian O’Malley recently told the council that the ad hoc shelter committee is working toward an Aug. 20 deadline to have a Request For Proposals complete. He said the committee was working with the expectation that the shelter overlay zone would be removed, and that buffers would remain in place.

During a council workshop this week, Councilors Scott Harriman and David Chittim said they would support dropping the overlay zone, buffers, and a cap on how many shelter beds are allowed in the city.

“If we end up in the position that we have more shelter beds than we need, that’s a good thing,” Harriman said last week.

Others, like Councilor Josh Nagine, agreed that the overlay is restricting new shelters, but that buffers should be maintained.

Nagine said he sees the most important considerations as buffers and where they exist, the approval process for new shelters, and the ability for the ordinance to address grievances when there’s an issue.

He said he’s “comfortable” with removing the 120-bed cap on shelter beds, but that it should be tied to the zoning in which a shelter would be going.

“We don’t want a 200-bed shelter in a single-family neighborhood,” he said.

Mayor Carl Sheline called the shelter bed limit approved by the previous council “completely arbitrary.” During the joint workshop, he said the previous discussions were “how difficult can we make it.”

“We for sure need guidelines but we need to focus on how we make things possible,” he said.

Nagine has previously advocated for expanding where shelters can be located, but keeping commercial corridors like downtown Lisbon Street and the riverfront excluded.

Nagine also pointed out that the existing ordinances were written without the idea that there would be a city-run shelter. He said the ordinance changes should consider what the city is planning to do, but also to “not prohibit other people from doing it.” He said that could include smaller shelters that serve a specific clientele.

Councilor Tim Gallant also advocated in favor of keeping buffers. He said it’s inevitable that shelter guests will be hanging out outside a shelter, and the city could receive “complaint after complaint.”

Councilor David Chittim said he doesn’t want the ordinance to be “the imposition of big brother.” He opposed limits on alcohol, and allowing pets in shelters, as well as buffer zones, which he said is essentially “demonizing” the guests of a shelter.

“We need to respect that homeless people are people,” he said.

Last week, Councilor Susan Longchamps questioned the timeline for when a city-run shelter could be up and running. She said 30 minutes before the meeting, she met a 90-year-old woman who is now homeless because her building changed ownership and rent was increasing.

“So I’m taking her home with me,” Longchamps said.