The Scarborough Town Council has yet to decide whether to allow motels to convert to condominiums, but planning board members told a Pine Point motel owner Monday it might not matter, because his proposal wouldn’t likely get their approval.

After a public hearing on Monday, members of the Scarborough Planning Board did not give much hope to motel owner Nick Truman, who wants to convert the 22-unit Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point into 22 privately owned condominiums.

“To say we should have the same number of condo units, to me, doesn’t make any sense,” said planning board member John Chamberlain.

Though Chairwoman Susan Auglis said the planning board doesn’t have a say in whether the ordinance passes, the process created by the ordinance – requiring the hotel and motel owners to visit the planning board for a site plan review – means, in the end, “it’s going to come back to us,” she said.

If a hotel or motel does reach that point, planning board members said, it’s going to have a hard time getting any further.

Board member Charlie Callahan said that if it came to that, he doesn’t see how the changes could fit into the the zoning ordinance.

“Quite frankly, I’m not sure how any of these can be converted to single-unit ownerships,” Callahan said, referring to all of the hotels and motels that could potentially convert to condominiums.

Though Auglis refrained from giving an opinion on the ordinance, she said she agreed with Callahan.

“I don’t see, today, exactly how that site plan ordinance can be applied to what we’re looking at,” she said.

Chamberlain agreed, noting that if the motel were torn down and something was built in its place, the zoning wouldn’t allow a 22-unit, multi-family dwelling on the plot.

Truman still argued at the meeting that changing the ownership of the individual units would not change the use of the building, which, he said, means he shouldn’t have to go to the planning board for a site plan review at all.

Truman would be able to avoid the planning board if he could ensure that the use is not changing by fulfilling certain requirements, such as housekeeping and linen service and front desk personnel – requirements Truman says are unnecessary and unfair.

Ultimately, that’s for the town council to decide.

“We have to narrow in on what our mandate really is,” said board member Cory Fellows.

The Scarborough Town Council takes up the matter at a public hearing Monday at 7 p.m.

Nick Truman, the owner of the Lighthouse Inn at Pine Point, speaks to planning board members Monday night. Truman wants to convert his 22-unit motel into 22 condominiums.