PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
A local church that planned to open up its parking lot at night to homeless women and children is now abandoning that plan.
The Moreland Presbyterian Church was the first to offer up its parking lot for a pilot program in Portland allowing homeless people to sleep in their cars overnight.
The Portland City Council approved the program for interested churches and nonprofit organizations in late 2011.
In May, the southeast Portland church announced they wanted to open up one parking space for women who needed a safe place to go at night.
The announcement was met with "intense opposition" from the community, according to the church.
Neighbors worried about increased noise and crime.
The program requires participating churches and organizations to provide access to water, toilets and garbage pickup.
The Moreland Presbyterian Church's governing body met July 25 to review the plan. They decided not to move forward with it at that time.
In a statement, the church said, "The amount of publicity generated by the situation created a hostile environment where the church could not be confident about the safety of the people in the car."
Similar programs have been put in place in other cities without major problems. Eugene has had one since the 1990s and that city has almost two dozen parking sites dedicated to it.
Church leaders said they are now investigating at least two other programs to help the homeless population in southeast Portland.
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