The city of Portland has imposed a temporary moratorium on new hotel projects and expansions.
The measure passed with a 6-2 vote by Portland city councilors Monday night.
City councilors said the pause will give them time to review inclusionary zoning rules passed in 2019, which require that developers provide one unit of income-restricted rental housing for every 28 hotel rooms that are built in Portland, or pay fees.
But hotel developers have not built any affordable units in the last five years since the inclusionary zoning rules were passed, said Portland Councilor Kate Sykes. And she said the fees that developers aren't enough to cover the true costs of housing construction.
"Everything that we can do, we should do, to make sure that we are prioritizing the building of housing, not the building of hotels," Sykes said. "And certainly not the building of hotels that actually exacerbate the housing crisis, because they do not provide the workforce housing that we need, in order to fill the jobs that they create."
Mayor Mark Dion voted against the measure, arguing that a moratorium on new hotel development could send a bad message to other Portland businesses.
"Should this give me pause about how we play in our sandbox?" he said. "This city can only survive with business that's successful."
Since 2019, nine hotel projects have been approved, are under review, are under construction or have been finished. Together, the projects will add a total of 801 hotel rooms.
The temporary moratorium will not apply to projects that have already submitted applications to the city's planning board.
Because the measure did not receive at least seven votes from city councilors, the hotel development pause will go into effect in one month. It will run through May 3.
