Then came the request to allow a colon-hydrotherapy practice to set up a shop in a Providence home.

"My first question was: 'What is it?' ” Leonhardt said in an interview. "And then: 'Is it something that ought to be in the neighborhood?' ”

After learning more about the homeopathic procedure used to cleanse the bowels, the mayor decided the home-based business, Alternatives in Health, would have little effect and should receive a conditional-use permit.

Others disagreed, including the city's zoning staff and its Planning Commission. But recently, the City Council bucked that opposition and voted 3-2 to approve Colette Yates' request to perform colon hydrotherapy in her Providence home.

Throughout the application process, which included two public hearings, Yates maintained the procedure she uses to gently insert water into the colon to loosen waste so it can exit the body naturally is safe and effective. Yates is a certified nurse's assistant and a certified colon hydrotherapist who spent "thousands of dollars" to acquire training and a specialized instrument and to modify her home for the business.

The state does not require professional licensing for colon hydrotherapy because it is identified as a homeopathic treatment.

At a public hearing, many of Yates' neighbors and friends spoke in favor of her home business. Yates showed city leaders the small, disposable instrument she uses and assured them the procedure is safe if done properly.

"It is a very simple procedure," she said. "This negative talk about it being a medical procedure is just blowing it up in your mind."

Providence resident Mary Hubbard wasn't convinced. "It's an alternative therapy, but it is a medical procedure and it is invasive," said Hubbard, who fears the business will lower property values in the neighborhood. "This is not like home day care, music lessons or the occasional beauty parlor. This should go in a business district."

After Yates provided endorsement letters from two area chiropractors, Councilman Randy Eck suggested she use their office space for her business.

"The nature of what I do is a very private thing," Yates responded, adding that the cost of renting office space would require her to boost her fees significantly.

Eck and fellow Councilman Ron Liechty voted against the permit.

Councilman Vic Saunders said he couldn't come up with a reason to join the opposition, but he warned that the approval could prompt other medical offices to try to move into residential neighborhoods.

"At some point, people will come back to us and say, 'Enough,' ” Saunders said. "Somewhere the line will have to be drawn."

ajbrunson@comcast.net