Listening House, a drop-in day center for the homeless that moved from downtown St. Paul to the basement of a Dayton’s Bluff church this summer, can continue to operate on Maria Avenue, a residential street, under several conditions.

The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday debated whether to overturn those conditions, which were recently set by the city’s Planning Commission, or deem Listening House incompatible with residential zoning and force its closure, as requested by a group of concerned neighbors.

Instead, at the urging of council member Jane Prince, who represents the neighborhood, the council voted 5-2 to uphold most of the Planning Commission’s conditions with one important exception.

A requirement limiting the number of homeless guests served each day to 20 will not be implemented until April 2, allowing Listening House to continue to open its doors to dozens of visitors through the winter. The organization, which filed a written appeal in late October, sees 35 to 100 visitors per day, and called the new cap prohibitive.

Council members Chris Tolbert and Rebecca Noecker voted against the conditions, noting that homeless residents turned away at the door may stay in the neighborhood, escalating problem behaviors reported by neighbors.

“This limit of 20 people per day makes absolutely no sense to me,” Noecker said. “I don’t understand, practically, how it works.”

Prince responded: “If we are not willing to control the intensity of the use, we should grant the neighbors appeal,” which would shutter Listening House entirely. “It should not have an impact on a residential character of the neighborhood.”

Among the conditions, Listening House must inform the city if it serves more than 20 guests in one day on two occasions within the same month, and it must work with the city on a response plan if it exceeds the cap four times in a month.

Given the visible uptick in homelessness in and around downtown St. Paul, even some council members who voted for the conditions expressed some skepticism about the new rules and predicted more discussions ahead. “It’s going to happen,” said council member Amy Brendmoen. “There’s going to be more than 20 guests in the first month.”