Committee favors allowing hostels in Portland, Maine

Good news for backpackers in Maine!
Committee favors allowing hostels in Portland

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

It’s nice to see a City Council that supports hostels.

The hostels would be allowed in five commercial zones and in one residential zone of the city. While the council wants to put some pretty restrictive limitations on the maximum size of a hostel in the residential zone, at least it’s a step in the right direction.

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.

Of the three members of the committee, one of them actually used to work in a hostel in Berlin. What is very surprising to me is that he is the one against the hostels.

"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."