POCATELLO — Jacqualine Thomas, pastor with the Praise Temple of God church in Pocatello, won’t call the old Bistline Building at 916 East Sublette St. home to Big Momma’s House, but her dream to bring supportive housing to the homeless in Pocatello remains very much alive.

After several hours of contentious testimony and debate between City Council members, proponents of the shelter and members of the Bonneville Neighborhood Association — who appealed the conditional-use permit that would allow a facility of that nature in a residential area — a unanimous vote from participating city council members upheld the appeal.

“It is unfortunate that we didn’t get the home,” Thomas said. “Yes, I thought God was going to open that door, but I was prepared either way. I’m not going to stop because I was denied that home. It empowered me to do work harder.”

Thomas said she understands the fears brought forward by members of the Bonneville Neighborhood Association — that her idea for a supportive shelter for the homeless would be the “typical” shelter, with tenants smoking, drinking or engaging in other illicit activities on the property.

“But anyone that knows me also knows that I’m not that type of person,” Thomas said. “And I would have never brought a type of shelter that would have people drinking and smoking outside into the community.”

The Bonneville Neighborhood Association Secretary, Alfreda Vann, filed the reconsideration request for the special-use permit because, “Important details regarding operational characteristics are unknown,” according to the appeal document filed with the city’s planning and zoning department.

Furthermore, the appeal notice read, “Without complete information, a successful well-ran organization would affect the neighborhood differently than an unsuccessful/underdeveloped organization. The applicant has not provided the necessary documentation for the (conditional-use) permit.”

Vann said during Thursday’s city council meeting that the operations manual Thomas submitted to Planning and Zoning is a manual for a shelter in Ohio and does not list codes for the city of Pocatello or Bannock County.

“I felt bad for them because they didn’t have a good business plan in place,” Vann said. “We have over 70 business and professional enterprises operating in this neighborhood, along with city, county, state and federal offices. So we welcome business enterprises, it’s just that they need to be totally clear on what the business is and how it will be financed.”

Matthew Lewis, the planning and zoning division manager for Pocatello, said staff members from that department met with board members in support of Big Momma’s House on multiple occasions regarding the facilities intended use and operating guidelines.

Though the functionality of the house remains about the same, the definition of the intended use for the home affects the application and contingency requirements for allowing a homeless shelter in a residential area, which Pocatello city code currently prohibits. However, a supervised group facility is allowed conditionally with a permit.

“Based on those discussions and the application materials submitted, staff determined that the use would be as a supervised group living facility, which are conditionally permitted within the subject zoning district,” Lewis said. “The difference between the supervised group living facility and a homeless shelter is basically tenancy.”

For a supervised group living facility, the minimum tenancy is 30 days. Lewis said anything less than 30 days falls into the category of what would be considered a homeless shelter.

“We got hung up on it being a shelter, but it’s supportive housing,” Thomas said. “No matter how we put it, supportive housing, wrap-around housing or a homeless shelter, we’re talking about a shelter. My home is a shelter.”

In addition to fears from the Bonneville Neighborhood Association, Councilman Roger Bray questioned the semantics between the difference of a homeless shelter and a supervised, supportive housing facility and how staff with Big Momma’s House would ensure tenants stay the mandatory 30-day minimum outlined in the special-use permit.

“My research shows that 30 percent of people who go into these facilities leave before 30 days,” Bray said, mentioning the Walker Center in Gooding as a sterling example.

The turning point at the meeting, however, was when Councilman Gary Moore proposed other members of the council to consider putting a homeless shelter in their own neighborhoods.

“I haven’t been too overly concerned with the rules and regulations because I think that you’re a smart bunch of people and I think you’ll figure that stuff out,” Moore said. “When I look at neighborhoods, those things are important to me.”

He continued, “I want to make sure that I treat every neighborhood the same, whether it’s my neighborhood, the Bonneville neighborhood or the Satterfield neighborhood.”

Despite councilman Steve Brown’s efforts to recommend denying the appeal, approving the conditional use-permit with the stated conditions and adding a condition that would specify a timeline for the completion of a thorough intake process and operations manual, the Pocatello City Council voted 4-0 Thursday in favor of the appeal, with council members Heidi Adamson and Jim Johnston recusing themselves because of potential conflicts of interest.

However, Thomas said her dream remains true and steadfast, and that she was overwhelmed by the number of phone calls she took Friday morning and afternoon from supporters of her cause.

After Thursday’s meeting, Thomas immediately recommended that board members begin looking for an alternative location, but this time she hopes to find a suitable property in a nonresidential area in order to avoid falling into similar circumstances.

“We took a dope house and turned it into a church,” Thomas said. “I’m going to make sure that the individuals in our community that are homeless will have a roof over their head.”

As of now, Thomas and her supporters have raised over $52,000 for Big Momma’s House, and she wants the public to know that those funds will not go to waste.

“We’re still asking for donations and our goal is to get into a location debt free,” she said. “I still need the community’s support. And I want to ensure the community understands that their donations are still important and that any and all contributions will still be used to turn Big Momma’s House from a vision into a reality.”

She continued, “It’s in God’s hands now. He has the facility that we need in mind and I just need to find it.”