COEUR d'ALENE - Welcome, Union Gospel Mission.

The Coeur d'Alene Planning Commission granted a special use permit Tuesday night critical for the Spokane-based faith and rehabilitation provider's request to locate a women and children's center in the Lake City.

"I think it speaks volumes for the neighborhood and their overwhelming response to the project," said Phil Altmeyer, UGM executive director after the unanimous vote of approval. "It will be an improvement to the whole neighborhood, and a blessing in the long term."

Right now, the 2.7-acre lot off Haycraft Avenue north of Appleway Avenue is a plot of overgrown weeds. UGM wants to build a two-year transitional housing and recovery program center for women with substance abuse problems and their children there.

But a portion of the property was zoned residential, and to go through with the project the permit was a must. Tuesday, that piece of the puzzle fell into place, meaning the UGM will be moving across the state line, a goal of the mission for around five years.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the project," Commission member Lou Soumas told Altmeyer after the vote. "I'm excited you're coming over here."

The project will likely take two years to complete. It will be privately funded, but a total cost hasn't been nailed down since a completed facility design hasn't been adopted. The idea is to offer around 35 beds for women and their children, 30 beds for a crisis center, and a building for educational and other services including doctor, dental and eye clinics.

Several people showed up at the meeting in support of the project, saying it would fill a niche not otherwise offered in the community. A few people signed a list against the project, but did not speak during the meeting.

"I think it's an awesome thing. We see the need first hand," said Kevin Kran, of Cherished Ones Ministry in Coeur d'Alene. "We've seen how drugs and alcohol tear families apart."

It would focus on faith as a means for the women and children to recover from abuse. The center would also have a nursery, and would design a landscaped buffer from neighbors. The property sits at 196 W. Haycraft near Taco Bell, a laundromat, several homes and apartment buildings to the west.

"I still have some concerns," said Pat Boland, owner of Cleanco laundry and dry cleaners across the street from the site. Boland didn't speak at the meeting, but signed up against it on account that it wouldn't mesh well with the commercial businesses already there.

Altmeyer said the projects in Spokane ended up attracting new condo, commercial and residential developments around them after they were built, with only one neighbor complaint in around 30 years.

"I wouldn't say I'm disappointed, I'm hopeful," Boland said. "I hope the facility lives up to their expectations."

The mission has been in Spokane since 1951. Its women's center, the Anna Ogden Hall, opened there in 1971 and helped 112 women and children in 2009, something Altmeyer said the mission can duplicate in North Idaho.

"Right now, we'll go back, and then move ahead," he said of the next step.