A meeting for neighbors of a planned house for military veterans who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes drew approximately 35 people Thursday night.

Central Oregon Veterans Outreach plans to open a home on 10th Street in northeast Bend to provide what COVO Executive Director Chuck Hemingway has called “permanent supportive housing.” The nonprofit hopes the home will be ready for veterans by January.

On Thursday, neighbors said they worried the veterans would abuse drugs and alcohol and others questioned whether the house will have adequate parking.

The house used to be a group home for developmentally disabled people, with up to 20 residents. It has been vacant since 2009, and at one point squatters camped in the backyard. The nonprofit must obtain a new conditional use permit to turn the home into a duplex, because COVO hopes up to 10 veterans can live there. Otherwise, only five veterans can do so.

COVO representatives said they will only rent to veterans capable of living independently. That means residents will not include people who require alcohol and drug testing to remain sober, or people with mental illnesses who need someone to make sure they take medications.

Nor will COVO forbid adults in the home from enjoying alcohol, Hemingway said. For example, a potential renter might be an elderly veteran who can no longer maintain a larger home, and he might want to drink a glass of wine on the patio.

Kenneth Seidel, 81, is a neighbor of COVO’s Home of the Brave transitional house for homeless veterans and attended the Thursday night meeting to support the nonprofit.

“They’re good guys, good neighbors,” Seidel said. “I just want to put in a good word for them… The kind of people you’re going to have here, you don’t have to worry about them.”

Neighbors also raised concerns about parking, due to the number of people who might live at the house. Seth Anderson, an architect hired by COVO, said there will be four parking spaces on the property.

Anderson said the home has 12 bedrooms that previously had up to 22 beds. COVO’s plan is to remodel the home so it has six bedroom suites, with seven total bedrooms and up to 10 residents. One resident will be the onsite manager.

Anne Philiben, former president of the COVO board, said many combat veterans have no problems living independently. For example, the people who founded COVO included veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder “who are physicians, lawyers, architects,” Philiben said.

Richard Bonebrake, 64, is a veteran who lives in a COVO housing complex on Dekalb Avenue. Bonebrake invited neighbors of the 10th Street house to visit his home to get an idea of how the new facility will operate.

“My roommate passed away and I couldn’t afford to pay the rent anymore,” Bonebrake said.

Now, one of Bonebrake’s neighbors at the complex is a veteran who is a college student and another started his own landscaping business.

“It’s not some bum off the street,” Bonebrake said. “They’re making sure the people who go in there are going to be responsible and take care of the property.”

Some neighbors left still worried about COVO’s plans.

Greg Rogers said he felt reassured the house would not be a homeless shelter, but he remained concerned about the safety of his children and traffic. Rogers said he has friends who went through treatment for substance abuse and he knows people can always regress. As for traffic, Rogers said, “I know it will always be a busy place.”