The City Council denied the request after a second public hearing on Oct. 5. Council members Joe Carn and Jamelle McKenzie supported the denial; Tracey Arnold and Roderick Gay abstained.

Halcyon House, which operates recovery homes in Sandy Springs, Roswell and Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood, sought a reasonable accommodation to the city’s occupancy limit. City Attorney Winston Denmark advised council members to consider whether the requested increase was justified under the law, rather than base their decision on objections to people recovering from addiction living nearby.

Before the vote, residents raised concerns about safety, traffic and parking. Some also faulted Halcyon House owner Kai Thorpe and his representatives for not holding a neighborhood meeting. Daniel Moore, a resident who moved to College Park with his family four years ago, said he wanted more information about residents’ screening and the home’s safety practices.

“I want to know that I can walk my daughter to school [and] my wife is safe jogging around,” Moore told the council.

McKenzie said after the hearing that Halcyon House had not provided enough evidence to support accommodating eight residents. Thorpe and the organization’s attorneys did not attend the October hearing. Halcyon attorney Ian Neubauer said he and fellow attorney Andrew Tine were surprised the city scheduled another hearing, and that they had already presented their case in August.

The dispute has led to multiple court cases. Fulton County Superior Court overturned a city cease-and-desist order against Halcyon House. The court also reversed the council’s December 2025 denial of an earlier accommodation request, finding the city had not provided proper notice and a public hearing.

A separate federal lawsuit alleging housing discrimination is still pending. Neubauer said the city has asked the court to dismiss it.