Residents of the Bellemeade Bayard Park Neighborhood have been fighting NOW Counseling for most of the spring.
They allege that owner Jordan Milby was shirking zoning requirements and putting neighbors and home values at risk.
Now Counseling offers privately-owned and run spaces for individuals recovering from addiction. These are modified single family homes nestled in Evansville Neighborhoods usually housing about 10 people.
Now Counseling was dealt a setback this week. They had three homes up for rezoning to increase the number of non-family occupants from five to about 10 per home.
City Council member Alex Burton voted to table the matter until July 24.
He initially supported the rezoning of such homes, so his request to table was a surprise to Bayard Park residents.
“For as much as we need recovery services, we also need the proper guiderails that we don't oversaturate any one neighborhood,” Burton said in a prepared statement at the Monday meeting. “From all the healthy dialogue that has occurred over the past 45 days, more still needs to happen.”
Burton wants to establish a legislative paradigm that supports recovery, but also Evansville’s urban core. He pointed to the successful redevelopment of Evansville’s Hayne’s Corner neighborhood as a model to follow in drafting good practices for these neighborhoods.
He mentioned the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in their success of working with recovery homes through their Area Plan Commission.
“In my opinion, any future development and, or rezonings must follow strict adherence to a set of rules that are more clearly defined,” Burton said.
The homes in question are on East Powell, East Blackford and Kentucky Avenue. The home on East Powell has eight residents. The others are under renovation.
Milby said he took the decision as a call for more detailed information on their programs.
“It seems like everybody kind of got lost in some of the information and misinformation,” he said. “And I think that that's what really requires the need for additional time, which I'm supportive of.”
Milby said whatever the number, he’ll keep his homes to the legal limit. Prior to proper rezoning, he said he’d adjust occupied spaces to fit the zoning requirements.
“We're going to continue our mission, as planned," he said. "The only thing the zoning really changes is how many people were able to be in some of the different properties.”
Bayard Park residents will also take the time to work with local government at establishing a path forward.