A planned youth care home in northwest Moncton has been kiboshed by council.

Youth Impact submitted a rezoning request for a property located on Acorn Court.

The organization planned to renovate an existing home to accommodate up to four youth.

But council voted 7-3 to deny the rezoning request following a public hearing on Monday night.

Councillors heard from several neighbours who spoke out against the application.

“Any increase in traffic, including emergency vehicles, staff and support service providers directly affects every household on that court,” said resident Julie Schofield Simard.

“What might be manageable in a larger subdivision is amplified in a cul-de-sac.”

The home would have provided an eight-week youth stabilization program for youth aged 12 to 18 currently living with a foster family or adopted family but going through a tough time.

According to the proposal, four staff would have been on-site from 8 a.m. to noon and another two staff from midnight to 8 a.m., but no staff would live in the home.

Youth would continue to attend school as part of the program, and there is little unsupervised time outside the home.

The stabilization program had been in operation at another location in the city for several years, but had to be moved in the spring.

Fellow councillor Charles Léger said while he is not opposed to the idea of a youth care home, he does not feel this is the right location for one.

“The facility, probably from an optics perspective, the size and so on, all of that works, but where’s the regard for the community in which you’re going to be placing this?” said Léger.

Councillors Susan Edgett and Monique LeBlanc and Deputy Mayor Paulette Thériault were the only ones to vote in favour of the rezoning.

With files from Tara Clow