The building at 436 Main Street has been approved to be a temporary shelter for young adults. Andree Kehn/ Sun Journal

LEWISTON — The Planning Board approved a conditional use permit Monday allowing New Beginnings to operate a 12-bed winter shelter for young adults, and sent recommendations to the council about where shelters should be permitted in the city.

While the City Council approved an emergency order last month allowing the shelter to operate, it was contingent on receiving a conditional use permit from the Planning Board.

The emergency declaration from the council allowed New Beginnings to operate under new city licensing rules, including the ability for shelter guests to sleep on cots instead of the floor.

The shelter, to be located at 436 Main Street, will serve young adults aged 18-24, which, according to New Beginnings Director Chris Bicknell, are considered “transitional age youth” with different needs than the adult homeless population.

In response to concerns about potential impacts to the surrounding neighborhood, Bicknell said the organization operated a warming center there last year during same period, and had zero calls for police service.

Others, like Board Chairperson Lucy Bisson, questioned why the age range using the facility are not considered adults.

“By the time I was 24 I had two kids,” she said.

Bicknell said MaineHousing funds New Beginnings to operate a shelter for “transition age youth,” which it defines as young adults up to their 24th birthday.

In order to receive the conditional use permit, the organization had to meet requirements surrounding exterior lighting and trash disposal, both of which Bicknell said had been addressed.

New Beginnings’ shelter approval comes at a time of tremendous change in homeless policy in Lewiston, with the city working toward opening a permanent, low-barrier shelter and with more community buy-in for operations like Kaydenz Kitchen’s winter shelter.

New licensing requirements are meant to make the process for opening a shelter more clear, and the Planning Board’s recommendations on zoning for shelters could change where shelters are allowed with City Council support. The recommendations forwarded Monday by the Planning Board would remove the restrictive shelter overlay zone and replace it with language specific to each zoning district.

The recommendations are based on a matrix using shelter type and size. For example, small and medium sized, 24-hour family and youth shelters (up to 16 occupants) would be allowed in all zones except Industrial and Riverfront. Large adult shelters, by comparison, would be restricted to only five or six zones depending on the proposal, with buffers to schools, day cares and parks also applying.

But while homeless advocates are feeling more optimistic that Lewiston is finally addressing the homelessness crisis, some are concerned for potential negative impacts from allowing shelters in commercial or residential areas.

Board member Michael Marcotte spent much of Monday’s meeting repeating concerns over shelters, particularly the potential for zoning changes to allow more shelters to operate in residential areas, or commercial areas that could hurt economic development.

While several board members argued that officials could always revisit zoning language in the future, Marcotte said “what I’ve seen over the last 12 months really concerns me in terms of direction.”

“We’re a Planning Board. We’re planning for Lewiston’s future,” he said. “I’ve lived here my entire life and I’ve seen a lot of negative in the last 40 years. I just want to put some kind of stopgap in place.”

During public comment, resident Zoe Lindstrom said she’s in favor of the recommendation to replace the overlay district, “allowing for more flexibility to address this intractable problem.”

Potential issues that arise based on state rules can always be addressed later, she said, “that’s what the Planning Board does.”

Marcotte read letters from two constituents which he said mirror his concerns. He didn’t identify the authors.

One letter argued that permitting shelters in certain areas “posed significant risk to the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods” regarding public safety, and that shelters in residential areas raise crime rates, loitering, and “increases a sense of unease.”

Marcotte said he’s hearing from constituents concerned about expanding shelters into residential and commercial zones. But, he said, he supported the board’s recommendations because it has been “a good negotiating process.”

“I hope the council can honor this recommendation in its fullest,” he said.