Planning Board Approves Controversial Wilmington Detox Facility

WILMINGTON, MA -- The Wilmington Planning Board had its long-delayed hearing in a controversial drug treatment facility and signed off on the project after a lengthy discussion Wednesday night. The proposal is scheduled to go before the zoning board of appeals in December. While Wilmington Town Meeting approved new zoning rules late last year limiting where such facilities could be located, the current proposal by Betterment LLC was grandfathered in, as developers filed a site plan before the new law was implemented.

For more than a year, Wilmington residents have debated the proposal by Betterment LLC to build a short-stay detoxification center at 362 Middlesex Avenue. While proponents say the facility meets demand brought on by the opioid crisis that his hit Wilmington and other Massachusetts communities, opponents have objected to its location in a mixed-use residential and business neighborhood. The new rules passed by town meeting in December would limit future facilities to industrial areas.

Betterment appeared before the ZBA in February, and the board continued the public hearing without taking any action. Betterment has received a series of almost-monthly continuances for the continuation of the hearing. In February, the board heard more than three hours of input on the project, including an overview from the project's backers and comments against the project from the dozens of residents who showed up for the hearing.

At the February meeting, Attorney Mark Bobrowski represented Betterment and said he would be back before the board with an expert on detox centers like the one being proposed to address some safety concerns that have been raised. He said Betterment was also planning to complete a traffic study and that the company was trying to be "neighbor friendly."

The proposal has split residents since it was first announced in September. An advocacy group, Concerned Citizen of Wilmington, was formed to oppose the proposal, citing safety concerns about locating it in a residential and commercial neighborhood. That group led the effort to overhaul the town zoning bylaws. At the same time, even some opponents of the proposal conceded that, like many Massachusetts communities, Wilmington had been hard hit by the opioid epidemic. Backers of the project argue such a facility would aid Wilmington families suffering from addiction and create jobs.

When it meets next month, the Zoning Board will largely be ruling on whether Betterment's application conforms with town zoning laws. Most observers believe that under the old zoning rules, Wilmington has few options to stop the center from locating at 362 Middlesex Avenue.

But even the ZBA has been pulled into the political fracas. In October, board chairman Daniel Veerman came under fire for referring to addicts as "junkies" on his personal Facebook page. Proponents of the project questioned his ability to rule objectively on the plan.

More on this story:

• Wilmington Detox Center Hearings Pushed Back To October (9/6/2018)
• AG Approves Wilmington Drug Treatment Center Ban (6/22/2018)
• Zoning Board Wants More Information On Wilmington Detox Proposal (2/15/2018)
• Zoning Board To Consider Wilmington Detox Center February 14(1/24/2018)
• Wilmington Just Says No To Rec Pot Sales, Detox Facilities(12/17/2017)
• Wilmington Detox Center Opponents Threatened(12/6/2017)
• Wilmington, It's Not Over: Letter To The Editor(12/2/2017)
• Selectman, Wilmington Resident Battle Over Detox Center Proposal(11/19/2017)
• Wilmington Detox Center Saga To Continue At Special Town Meeting (11/7/2017)
• Wilmington Selectman: Town Manager Is 'A Sneaky Little Weasel'(11/1/2017)
• Wilmington Detox Center Opponents Force Town Meeting: Report(10/27/2017)
• Wilmington Official Who Would Decide Fate Of Detox Center Calls Drug Addicted 'Junkies'(10/16/2017)
• Wilmington Detox Facility Backers Considering Other Sites For Controversial Proposal (10/10/2017)
• Residents Start Petition Opposing Wilmington Detox Facility Proposal (10/5/2017)
• Who Are The Other Partners Behind The Wilmington Detox Center Proposal? (10/4/2017)
• Lead Backer Pulls Out Of Group That Wants To Build Wilmington Drug Addiction Treatment Facility(9/27/2017)
• More Questions, Concerns Raised About Wilmington Detox Facility Backer, Proposal (9/27/2017)

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File photo by Dave Copeland/Patch.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).