Two Portland City Councilors are seeking to put a 180-day prohibition on the approval of new hotel projects in the city in order to prevent what they call the “serious public harm” posed by continued hotel development.
The proposed order, sponsored by Councilors Kate Sykes and Pious Ali, would place a 180-day moratorium on new hotel projects and expansions in Portland.
[RELATED: Maine’s Unprecedented Housing Crisis Is Worse Than You Think…]
In an Oct. 28 memo to Portland Mayor Mark Dion and the rest of the City Council, Sykes and Ali wrote that the pause in hotel development would give the city time to address its affordable housing needs by redirecting resources toward residential development, during which the city would also revise its “inclusionary zoning” (IZ) policies.
“A moratorium is warranted under subsection (B) of 30-A MRS 4356, as Portland’s existing comprehensive plan, land use ordinances, and regulations are inadequate to prevent the serious public harm posed by continued hotel development,” Sykes and Ali wrote in the memo.
According to the two Councilors, since 2019, 801 new hotel rooms have been approved or are under review in Portland, leading to a projected 489 additional hospitality jobs in the city.
Many of those hotel workers have incomes that fall below the the 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI) threshold, which qualifies them for affordable housing programs.
[RELATED: Maine Homes Nearly 9% More Expensive Than in 2023: Maine Association of Realtors…]
“This new demand, layered onto Portland’s existing housing shortage, highlights the need for more affordable housing options to support the workforce and mitigate commuting challenges for workers who are forced to seek housing outside the city,” the Councilors wrote.
While the city’s current IZ regulations require that hotel projects provide one unit of low-income housing for rent in the City of Portland for every 28 hotel rooms, or to pay a fee-in-lieu to support affordable housing production in the city, to date, no affordable housing units have been built by hotel projects, according to Sykes and Ali.
Skyes and Ali claim in the memo that the current fee-in-lieu of $4,692 per hotel room falls short of covering the cost of building affordable housing for low-income residents, and that allowing additional hotel development without adjusting the fee could “exacerbate serious public harm during a housing crisis.”
[RELATED: Mills Admin Outlines Recommendations for Meeting State Housing Production Goals by 2030…]
During the proposed 180-day moratorium, the City Council’s Housing and Economic Development Committee would be directed to conduct a comprehensive study of the IZ policies, potentially eliminating the fee-in-lieu option or implementing another method to ensure all hotels “contribute fairly to affordable housing.”
The proposal is slated for a first reading before the City Council during their Monday, Nov. 4 meeting.
