Detox Center Reconsideration Postponed Until Nov. 14

Tonight's zoning board meeting has been cancelled. The court-ordered reconsideration of a 2011 denial of a controversial inpatient drug and alcohol detoxification center's application has been reschduled so the "maximum number" of board members can attend

By Michael Ratcliffe
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October 17, 2012

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Lawrence Township, New Jersey Michael Ratcliffe

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The Lawrence Township Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting scheduled for this evening, Oct. 17, has been cancelled.

The matter that the board was set to address – the court-ordered reconsideration of the board’s 2011 denial of a use variance that would have allowed a controversial inpatient drug and alcohol detoxification center to open on Federal City Road – has been rescheduled for the regular zoning board meeting that will be held on Nov. 14.

The meeting was postponed until Nov. 14 so that the “maximum possible number of board members” can be present to take part in the remand proceeding, according to Assistant Township Engineer Brenda Kraemer, who sits on the board.

When the board convenes on Nov. 14, members will deliberate and vote on the detox center’s variance application, using as their guide the 40 or so hours of previous testimony given between November 2010 and June 2011.

No further public comment on the application, either written or oral, will be allowed, the board decided at its Sept. 19 meeting.

It was earlier this year that Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled that the zoning board was wrong when in June 2011, by a 4-2 vote, it decided the proposed detox center was “not inherently beneficial” under state law and, in turn, denied the variance application.

John Simone, the developer who owns the property, and Sunrise Detox, the Florida-based company that would run the 38-bed inpatient facility, last year filed a lawsuit to appeal the zoning board’s decision.

The board’s rejection of the variance application came after nine exhausting and often-heated zoning board hearings that featured testimony from supporters of the plan – who claimed that a need exists in the area for detoxification services – and those vehemently opposed to the idea, including nearby residents who said they feared for their safety and believed such a facility should not be located so close to residential neighborhoods.

The building in question at 100 Federal City Rd. sits at the entrance to the Traditions at Federal Point adult community and directly behind the homes in another development that includes Frederick Court and Karena Lane. In addition to their concerns about safety, neighbors objected to the increased traffic and noise – particularly from delivery trucks – that would come from the facility, which would include fulltime kitchen and laundry facilities.

The zoning board’s reconsideration of the application was delayed in August after a potential conflict of interest involving a board member came to light. That individual – acting as a “citizen witness,” prior to his being appointed to the zoning board – had testified at one of the detox center hearings.

The board directed attorney George Dougherty, retained as “special counsel” to represent the board in the reconsideration, to seek guidance from Judge Jacobson about the potential conflict.

But prior to the judge issuing a decision, the board member voluntarily recused himself.

Special zoning board meetings are scheduled to be held on Oct. 29 and Nov. 7 but those meetings will involve ongoing testimony concerning the proposed redevelopment of the Mrs. G TV and Appliances property and adjacent vacant lots along Route 1 (Brunswick Pike) at Bakers Basin Road.

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