LEWISTON — The City Council is poised to expand where homeless shelters are allowed to operate after several ordinance changes were approved in a first reading Tuesday.

The new rules, which still face a final reading later this month, would change how shelters are regulated and where they are allowed. Rather than being restricted by the current overlay district enacted by the previous council, shelters would be permitted based on the type and size of the shelter proposed.

For example, small- and medium-size, 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.

All types of shelters would be allowed in downtown zones such as centreville, but officials highlighted that all shelters are considered conditional use, and would require approval from the Planning Board and City Council.

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

The Planning Board spent several weeks creating the recommendations, which were forwarded to the council last month.

The council unanimously approved the changes in a first reading, with only minor language amendments and limited debate. The changes come as the city also readies for its first 24-hour, low-barrier shelter under development by the nonprofit Kaydenz Kitchen.

The elimination of the overlay district was supported by councilors from the start of the term in order to address homelessness, but the new approach has also been met with concern over how more shelters could impact neighborhoods.

Councilor Josh Nagine said the Planning Board put “a lot of consideration into how these changes would both affect and support our community.”

While the zoning recommendations came to the council with unanimous support from the Planning Board, the lengthy process was not without debate among board members and the public.

Board member Michael Marcotte continually shared concerns from constituents over allowing shelters near residential neighborhoods or in commercial areas that could impact economic development.

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.”

Prior to the council’s vote, Councilor David Chittim said he still had concern over allowing shelters in the industrial zone, and also opened up a debate over whether buffers between shelters and city parks should be maintained. Ultimately the council kept both rules unchanged. Only large adult shelters operating a 24-hour program are allowed in the industrial zone, which several councilors argued has a large amount of land and is separate from residential neighborhoods.

Alex Pine, a Planning Board member who spoke during public comment, said the industrial zone was used for that type of shelter because there generally isn’t the land and/or building available in other zones. He pointed to Portland, which built its newest shelter in an industrial area.

Councilor Scott Harriman said the new rules “expands where shelters can go in the city but also respects the various zoning districts that we have as far as what size and what sort of impacts it’ll have on the neighbors.”

“I think it will do a good job of allowing more shelters to be developed but also make sure that they fit into the surrounding neighborhoods,” he said.

Nagine said the overlay district was created following a controversial moratorium on shelters as a way to control where shelters could go.

“I think we’re moving past that in order to establish a more normalized version of what shelters look like for people who need them,” he said.