The Downie Stuart Foundation, which runs the community support service for adult male offenders, applied for resource consent to build a new three-storey building at 403 High St.
The project, together with alterations to its existing buildings at 401 and 402 High St, would give the service a new base for administration, including a staff room, large multipurpose room, four counselling rooms and a sitting area.
Dunedin City Council planner Lianne Darby had earlier recommended consent be granted, despite the opposition of two submitters and the non-complying status of the complex.
She maintained her stance at a council hearings committee meeting yesterday, despite the concerns of one of Moana House’s neighbours, Steve Stewart.
Mr Stewart, whose Maitland St house is overlooked by Moana House, said he worried about extra shading from the new building, a loss of privacy and pressure on parking.
He also worried about his family’s security after one recent incident, in which Moana House had appeared to go into "lockdown" as police swarmed the area.
No explanation had been given, but he had also found empty alcohol cans near his shared boundary with Moana House, despite the facility’s strict alcohol-free policy, he said.
"We have two young children and we don’t feel comfortable."
Despite his concerns, additional measures such as a higher fence between his property and Moana House, and frosted glass on the new building’s windows, where they overlooked his property, could help, Mr Stewart said.
"If this does go ahead, we are prepared to work in with Moana House," he said.
Maaike Duncan, a cadastral surveyor appearing for the foundation, said the foundation was prepared to accept a long list of conditions and work with the community to be a good neighbour.
The facility had an "open door" for neighbours wanting to discuss concerns, including Mr Stewart’s worries about alcohol, and that would continue, she said.
Moana House programme director Claire Aitken said the facility had operated in High St since 1987, and now had 17 beds to support men needing a family home-type setting.
The average stay was about eight and a-half months, but demand was such that the facility had a waiting list of 148 people and last month stopped taking referrals for a few weeks, she said.
The facility had "outgrown" its existing buildings, and the new building would give it the room it needed, she said.
The meeting was adjourned to allow the committee — comprising commissioners Andrew Noone, as chairman, Ros Day-Cleavin and Cr Mike Lord — to visit the site yesterday.
A written decision will follow.
