Wilmington Detox Center Opponents Cite 'Suicide By Train' Risk

WILMINGTON, MA -- Concerned Citizens of Wilmington, the group formed last year to oppose a proposal to build a drug treatment facility at 362 Middlesex Avenue, is raising new concerns about the detox center, which goes before the Zoning Board of Appeals next month. In a letter to local media outlets earlier this week, Gerry Bruno says the facility's location adjacent to MBTA commuter rail tracks will put patients at risk of committing suicide by train.

"If the construction is 'Green-lighted' there may be considerable legal exposure if a patient hearing the trains all day and night gets the idea to end his/her withdrawal torment using 'Suicide by train.' Locating a detox facility at 362 Middlesex is an avoidable recipe for disaster," Bruno wrote in a letter that extensively quoted an August Washington Post article that reported on a decrease in the number of people who attempted suicide by throwing themselves in front of passing trains.

While Wilmington Town Meeting approved new zoning rules in December that limit where drug treatment facilities can be located, the current proposal by Betterment LLC was grandfathered in under the previous rules.

"Last December 16th the citizens of Wilmington banded together to overwhelmingly pass Article-II," Bruno wrote. "The bylaw opened-up large tracts of industrially zoned land for use by medical facilities to include detox centers. These parcels are quiet, remote and provide a supportive environment for detoxification, rehabilitation and recovery."

Earlier this month, the planning board approved the proposal. 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.

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.

More on this story:

• Planning Board Approves Controversial Wilmington Detox Facility (11/15/2018)
• 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).