A ministry operating out of a Gwinnett County neighborhood is coming under fire from neighbors and now county officials.

Teammates in Ministry has been run out the home of Dave and Peggy Jones in the Rivermist subdivision for 14 years and serves as a respite for pastors who need a break. Jones was pastor of Gwinnett Community Church for 20 years before retiring to start the ministry.

According to the ministry's website, its mission is: To lavish the love of God on the servants of God, so they can be refreshed to better fulfill the call of God on their lives.

The non-profit doesn’t charge pastors to stay but accepts donations from churches. Many in the neighborhood didn’t even know the ministry existed until Jones received a citation in December for operating a bed and breakfast inn without a permit. He maintains he is not, but quickly filed for a special use permit so he could continue to operate.

Neighbor Nancy Riggle found out about the ministry when Jones was required to place a yellow sign in his front yard notifying the neighborhood of the permit request.

“We’ve been their neighbors for two years and we noticed nothing other than an amazingly beautiful house that’s kept very well,” she tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Riggle says the elderly couple invited neighbors to their home in recent months to explain the type of work they are doing, but many weren’t sold. George Colvin is concerned about the precedent it could set.

“If you’ve got one person doing it, what’s to stop somebody else from using it for a daycare center. What’s to stop somebody else from coming in and using it for a beauty shop,” he says.

Colvin and a few other neighbors have even placed signs in their yards that read, “No Bed and Breakfast Inn”.

The case had a public hearing in February before the Gwinnett Planning Commission which tabled its vote until May 1 barring any agreement reached between attorneys for both Jones and the county.

Planning Commissioner Rich Edinger has been working with both sides and hopes an agreement can be reached before then. He agrees the ministry is different from a traditional bed and breakfast inn, but says that was the closest description the county could find.

Riggle is hopeful the issue will go away and that Jones can continue operating as he has the past 14 years.

“It has divided the neighborhood. There are strong voices on either side,” she says.