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Timothy’s House of Hope is re-opening while city reviews zoning code

Timothy’s House of Hope is re-opening on Monday after being shut down by the city while a zoning ordinance is being reviewed.

DAVENPORT - Timothy's House of Hope will be re-opening it's doors Monday after getting the okay from the city.

"Our attorney contacted the city attorney and gave us the news yesterday that everything was a go," said Pastor Jim Swope, founder of Timothy's House of Hope.

Three weeks ago the city shut the meal site down because of it was not zoned to serve the homeless and Pastor Swope is ready to get back in and serve the community.

"We just want to be a blessing to them, we want to motivate them, some people are going through some hardships, marriages we hear, loss of loved ones," said Swope.

All the excitement of re-opening does come with some hesitation because it is not a done deal yet.

"We're not totally out of the woods yet, we have to see where this zoning law is gonna go, we don`t want something coming back on us three weeks, a month, two months later," said Swope.

City staff is in the process of looking over the zoning ordinance to bring a review and possible amendments to the city council.

"They're basically a moratorium on the enforcement until that review has been completed, so we're in the process now of reviewing the ordinance that was in place," said Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch.

But not everyone believes this was the right move to make by the city council.

"This isn't about Compassion Church or Timothy`s House of Hope, this is about the city council and the mayor ignoring a city ordinance and putting this unfair burden on our city staff to do something that is at best unethical," said Davenport Alderman Ray Ambrose.

Timothy's House of Hope, a ministry of Compassion Church, also has some work to do on the space after an inspection by the Fire Marshall.

"We need to get a class 1 hood mounted up here, per the Fire Marshall," said Pastor Swope.

The church has received an outpouring of support and a petition supporting them has been started with signatures from people all over the country.

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