PORTLAND — A City Council committee is prepared to recommend changes to the Land Use Code that would allow hostels to operate in Portland.

Members of the council’s Housing Committee endorsed several amendments Tuesday night, but held off on a final vote until the Planning Department can make revisions.

Proponents view hostels as a way to draw younger travelers from all over the world to Portland by offering a clean, more affordable alternative to hotels.

Jill Duson, chairwoman of the committee, said the revisions would establish standards for the number of guests who can stay in a hostel. The committee will consider the proposal on April 5 before forwarding its recommendation to the council.

“There is nowhere for the common traveler to find accommodations in this city for a reasonable rate. A hotel room is very expensive on the peninsula,” Peter Slayback said before the meeting.

Slayback, who has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, said he plans to operate a hostel if the city amends its Land Use Code.

The proposal before the committee would allow hostels in five commercial zones and a residential zone on Portland’s peninsula.

The Planning Board recommended in January that the Land Use Code be amended to allow hostels. However, board members felt there should be a cap on the number of guests who stay in a hostel in the residential zone, to minimize the impact on neighborhoods.

A hostel in the residential zone would be limited to 10 guests, or 20 if the owner received a conditional permit.

Councilor Kevin Donoghue, who once worked in a hostel in Berlin, Germany, said hostels should not be permitted in residential neighborhoods.

“I feel as though there is a potential for conflict,” he said. “I think it would come as a surprise to someone to find out that 20 strangers are sleeping next door to them.”

Donoghue’s motion to exclude hostels from a residential zone failed on a vote of 2-1, with Duson and Councilor Dory Waxman opposed.

Councilor David Marshall, who is not a member of the committee, said there is a need for affordable accommodations in Portland. He said he recently stayed at a hostel in Miami where he paid $40 a night for a clean bed and a private room.

“This (amendment) would allow for a greater variety in our menu of accommodations,” Marshall said.

Slayback said a hostel would appeal to younger travelers, such as backpackers, people on road trips or people attending summer festivals. He said he would charge $30 or $40 a night for one person, and the guest would get a clean bed, Internet access, meals and shared living space such as a kitchen.

With hotels charging $75 to $100 or more a night for one guest, the hostel would be a welcome affordable alternative, Slayback said.

“Hostels offer the opportunity to interact with other travelers,” he said. “If you stay in a hotel room, you go back to the room and your day is over. But in a hostel, your experience in Portland doesn’t end when you go back to your room.”

 

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com

 

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