As to offering an apology, Ambrose told Rawson, "Don't hold your breath," but after hearing about the stories about how the church has helped those in need, he somewhat changed his tune.

"That had a big impression on me," Ambrose said. "It wasn't a threat of a suit or some comments an alderman made. My heart goes out to these people."

During a work session, members of the council asked staff to look into making changes to the zoning ordinance so that issues like this would not arise again.

Ambrose sought clarification from Warner, who wrote in an email that "my direction to staff is/was to hold off on enforcement while the change winds through the process. There is no real justice in enforcing a zoning law that will soon be changed. Recently, as the Urban Chicken Ordinance was winding through its process, we were not prosecuting those who came forward and confessed to already having chickens."

While Ambrose offered an apology to Timothy's House of Hope during the City Council's May 3 meeting, he took aim at his colleagues the following day after several businesses and residents spoke about the potential impact on their neighborhood.