Wilmington Detox Center Hearings Pushed Back To October

WILMINGTON, MA -- The Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board granted extensions to the backers of a controversial proposal to build a drug treatment facility on Middlesex Avenue in Wilmington. The planning board's public hearing scheduled for next Tuesday was rescheduled for October 2, while the zoning board hearing scheduled scheduled for next Wednesday was moved to October 10. While Wilmington Town Meeting approved new zoning rules limiting where such facilities could be located, the current proposal was grandfathered in, as developers filed a site plan before the new law was implemented.

On Thursday, even as the hearings were pushed back, crews were installing a construction trailer on the lot, suggesting Betterment was moving forward with the plans. In October, the group hinted it would be willing to consider other locations in Wilmington. A spokesperson for the company was not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon.

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 Wednesday night, 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 of the 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 of the 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.

All of the residents who spoke at February's meeting were against the project. While many of the speakers raised concerns about traffic and the possibility of patients leaving the center before their treatment was completed, Selectman Michael McCoy called Betterment's plan a case of "corporate greed." McCoy has been the most outspoken critic of the proposal among Wilmington's elected officials, and led the effort to call the special town meeting to adopt the zoning rules prohibiting drug treatment facilities in most parts of Wilmington.

"We need to take care of the people that live in this community," McCoy said. "These are your friends."

The Zoning Board will largely be ruling on whether or not 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:

• 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)

For more on this story, see the Lowell Sun. Subscribe to Wilmington Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

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).