The Portland Planning Board has approved a plan to permanently expand the Homeless Services Center.
The City Council first approved an emergency order temporarily expanding capacity by 50 beds last fall.
At the time, the temporary expansion sparked a lengthy debate within the city. Some advocates said the shelter was ill-equipped to address the concerns from those living in Portland's largest encampments.
But social services providers told planning board members that the shelter expansion has since alleviated the pressure to respond to major encampments and played a role in reducing unsheltered homelessness and overdose deaths in the city.
Since January, the shelter has been serving an average of 229 people each night, said Aaron Geyer, social services director for the city of Portland.
"The importance of that and the reason we're reporting tonight is because that is 21 folks higher than the root capacity at 208," Geyer said. "Something that we are proud of and something that we want to continue is to be able to serve folks that want to be served."
The shelter has the capacity to permanently host 258 people.
Planning Board Chair Brandon Mazer acknowledged that some residents have expressed concerns about pedestrian traffic and accidents near the shelter.
"This isn't ideal. But the facility is there," he said. "It's placed there for a specific reason. It's serving our city and frankly, the region, in a very important capacity. And the last thing I want to see are the encampments coming back as well. I don't think that serves anybody."
A city dashboard showed 29 tents throughout Portland as of Wednesday.
With the planning board's approval this week, the 50-bed expansion will be permanent at the Homeless Services Center. However, the Portland City Council on Monday will consider another temporary emergency order at the shelter to account for a 30-day appeal window.
