GAINESVILLE - Gainesville City Council made a split first reading decision on two zoning requests for substance abuse recovery group homes Tuesday night.
Ruth Bruner's motion to approve Harold Hinchman's General Business zoning request to permit a home for 38 men on Grove Street in Midtown died for lack of a second.
She recalled that Council previously turned Hinchman down when he tried to get zoning approval for his Agora home for men in a residential area; the Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board recommended approval of his General Business request.
"I just feel like it's the right thing to do to find a place for people to have these programs," she said. "They have to be somewhere."
Council approved George Wangemann's motion 3-1 to deny the request; Wangemann said 38 men was too many for developing Mid-town; it was more like a jail than a group home.
"That's a lot of young men in one building," Wangemann said.
Council voted yes on Wangemann's motion to approve Roland Bagwell's request for a six man group home on Washington Street.