CHAPEL HILL - The Inter-Faith Council for Social Service is sticking to plans for 17 emergency beds at its planned men's transitional housing program. At least for now.

The IFC brought its special use permit application for the project before the public and the Town Council last week. About 200 people turned out for the meeting.

Some council members asked the IFC to reconsider the emergency beds, which have been a major concern to many neighbors of the site off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Homestead Road.

"We challenge you to see if you can do that," council member Matt Czajkowski told the IFC and its supporters Monday night. "It would be a phenomenal statement; one that I think would cause rejoicing throughout our entire community."

The town Planning Board and several citizen advisory boards have recommended the council approve the IFC's proposed 52 bed transitional housing program with the 17 additional emergency beds.

As of now, that is what the IFC is pursuing.

"I think our position about being interested in an emergency shelter as well as transitional housing remains ," Chris Moran, executive director, said a few days after the meeting. "We want to see both things happen."

But whether the IFC makes both things happen remains to be seen.

The transitional housing program will help men who commit to counseling and/or job training move toward independent living. It would be a different, more structured program than the shelter the IFC now runs at 100 W. Rosemary St.

The IFC has said it also plans the emergency cots because some group must continue providing overnight shelter to those who need it.

But in an interview, Moran said the IFC might drop the emergency component if another group steps forward, which he suggested might happen by the time the shelter application returns to the council May 9.

"I am confident that by the time our project is built, there will be an emergency shelter program whether it's with us or somewhere else," Moran said. "I think that there are lots of congregations, lots of individuals in our town that understand that an emergency shelter is an important service that needs to be provided for our community," he said.

Chapel Hill needs services to support the homeless, and other groups need to help, said council member Donna Bell.

"The IFC has done such an amazing job trying to empty the sea with a teaspoon for a very long time," Bell said. "If there is a way to put pressure on other entities to take up some of this programmatic work, this is a programmatic shift by putting an expiration date on those beds, I would be in support of that."

The IFC has agreed to draft a Good Neighbor Plan, outlining procedures for responding to neighbors' concerns and working with police. Several council members said the plan should be made a formal part of the IFC's permit application.

"We owe it to the neighbors," said council member Laurin Easthom said.

Many neighbors oppose the location and say there was not enough transparency in the site selection process.

Opponents argue that the shelter would concentrate too many social services in one part of town and endanger families and young children in the area, which includes after school programs and three pre-schools.