SOUTH PORTLAND — The Planning Board has recommended restoring controversial language to retooled short-term rental regulations that are up for a final City Council vote Tuesday.

The council removed an “allowed uses” clause from the proposed regulations after some residents complained that it challenged property owners’ rights. The clause was intended to make it clear that any property use is prohibited unless it is expressly listed as an allowed use in the zoning ordinance.

The board voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the clause be reinstated in the proposed regulations aimed at banning unhosted short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. The board also approved a master plan for a proposed assisted-living development on Running Hill Road.

The council decided to make a variety of amendments to new short-term rental regulations after a resident’s successful petition last spring required that the rules be repealed or put out to referendum.

Board member Linda Boudreau said the allowed-uses clause should be reinstated because it would clarify how the zoning ordinance is applied to future proposed uses, characterized by board Chairman Kevin Carr as “unknown unknowns.”

Carr said the council should “dig in its heels and exercise some fortitude” by not deleting the paragraph.

Planning Director Tex Haeuser said that since the 1940s, city staff has operated under the assumption that if a property use is not specifically permitted, then it is prohibited.

He said zoning dictates what people can and can’t do with their property, so it is innately restrictive. But zoning also ensures, for example, that a factory is not built in a residential neighborhood.

Whether or not the clause is included, that practice won’t change, Haeuser said.

In other business, the board also unanimously approved a master plan for an assisted-living and memory-care facility to be constructed at 165 Running Hill Road.

Confluent Development wants to build Harbor Chase, a 120-unit facility that would include 40 memory-care units and 80 assisted-living apartments of 350 to 550 square feet. The building’s footprint would be 65,000 square feet and would include meeting rooms, classrooms, kitchen, dining rooms and service areas.

The property would be managed by Florida-based Harbor Retirement Associates, which manages about 30 other facilities around the country.

Company spokesman Charles Jennings said South Portland was chosen because of Maine’s quality of life, aging population and statistics that show similar facilities are at capacity.

“We want to create an environment where people want to live, not where they feel like they have to live,” Jennings said.

The project still must go through the planning and permitting process.