Lewiston council amends homelessness ordinance

LEWISTON — A proposed ordinance regulating the city’s homeless shelters was extensively amended during a City Council meeting Tuesday night.

The ordinance, which will be voted on at the Sept. 20 meeting, came as a report by the special shelter committee on homelessness was released. It said the city needed over 180 shelter beds to properly handle the increasing homeless population in the area. The report said the city’s 83 shelter beds are full 88% of the year, on average.

Amendments to the ordinance focused primarily on the language outlining the requirements for shelter residents, such as how many residents a shelter could admit and the number of beds in each facility, including additional space for weather emergencies.

The ordinance was drafted by the City Council and shelter committee and was discussed at an Aug. 16 meeting, outlining locations for multiple homeless shelters, how they should be approved and a limit to the number of beds in each shelter.

There are 83 shelter beds being used in Lewiston. Several city councilors were in favor of capping the total number of beds at 134, although several members of the shelter committee were against setting any limit.

“I was surprised that the council still had concerns regarding the ordinance, especially given the agreements we made during our three-hour workshop dedicated to hashing out ordinance details, Mayor Carl Sheline said. “I truly appreciate Planning and Code Enforcement Director David Hediger and city staff’s hard work on this ordinance, as well as having shelter committee Co-chair Craig Saddlemire on hand to answer council questions and provide feedback on the amendments.”

Councilor Rick LaChapelle supported a change to redefine the term “homeless family” as “one or two parents/parent or guardian of one or more homeless children or youth.” The motion was seconded by Councilor Robert McCarthy and passed 5-2, with Sheline and Councilor Scott Harriman opposed. The pair also opposed a motion to exempt shelters in operation from participating in the statewide coordinated entry system and 24-hour staffing.

Four other items passed unanimously: Amendments requiring homeless youth to be enrolled in school or show proof of a submitted application to an educational program, an exemption to allow after-hours access to second and third shift laborers, and an extension of the age of those admitted to youth shelters to 21 years old.

The first of two required readings of the ordinance passed.

The changes made were incorporated into the final draft to be voted on in the upcoming meeting.

A Planning Board hearing on the zoning-specific questions of the ordinance will be held Monday.

“While I don’t agree with all of the amendments that were proposed, I am happy that we came to a place to pass the first reading of the shelter ordinance,” Sheline said. “My hope for the next council meeting is that all council members come to the table in the spirit of compromise so we can move forward addressing an issue that significantly impacts people’s lives, our community’s resources and our city’s downtown businesses.”