Residents Start Petition Opposing Wilmington Detox Facility Proposal

WILMINGTON, MA -- An online petition that will be submitted to the Wilmington Plan had collected more than 390 signatures by Thursday morning from residents who opposed a plan to build a drug addiction treatment facility at 362 Middlesex Avenue in the heart of North Wilmington. The petition was posted online earlier this week by someone identifying themselves as "Concerned Wilmington Citizen."

"It is our strong position there are multiple options in Wilmington, which are already properly zoned, that should be considered, and is our intent to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to find a solution. Our goal is to help people without hurting others," the petition said.

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Petition posters were able to leave comments along with their signature of support. Many of them echoed the same theme. A sample of the comments follow:

• "Shouldn't be in front view to the community, lots more building in descret places that can be used!"
• "I believe Wilmington, as well as other communities, would benefit from a detox facility, however I do not feel it belongs on a main road in Wilmington."
• "U want a bunch of zombie addicted attacks walking around even more!? Extremely bad idea for the town of Wilmington! This just enables the drug addicts."

The proposal to build a 48-bed detox center has divided Wilmington residents. On one are residents who argue that the center is needed in Wilmington, which, like dozens of other Massachusetts towns, is facing an opioid epidemic. Wilmington Police have responded to 40 reported overdoses so far this year. On the other side are people like the petition signers, who have raised concerns about the quality of live and the impact on property values, as well as questions about the proposal's backers.

One of those backers, David Ray, backed out of the proposal last week after Wilmington Patch reported on concerns raised by a parent of one of his former patients at and a competitor to his facility in Wakefield.

Screenshot from David Ray's 2014 appearance on NBC's Today Show.

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