Wilmington Detox Facility Up For Revote Wednesday

WILMINGTON, MA — A proposed Wilmington drug rehab facility will be back before the Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday, more than a year after first failing to win approval. The new hearing was agreed to by the town and the facility's backer, Bettering LLC, as part of mediation to resolve a federal lawsuit.

The proposal is to build a 48-bed short-term detox facility.

The company has submitted a revised site plan to the town ahead of the new vote. The new plan is currently unavailable and the Building Department is only open Tuesdays and Fridays due to the coronavirus shutdown. This story will be updated when the plan is available.

The project was first proposed in 2017, but faced fierce opposition from residents who said they were concerned about safety and aesthetics. Proponents said it meets a need created by the opioid epidemic.

It received Planning Board approval but failed to win a needed supermajority on the Zoning Board of Appeals in Jan., 2019. Three of the Board's five members voted in favor, falling short of the required number, four.

Bettering LLC went on to sue the town for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act and other state and federal laws in April, 2019. In July, the town and company agreed to go to mediation. In February, at the request of both parties, U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV put the case on hold, pending a decision from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Zoning Board of Appeals has the same five members as in 2018. Members Raymond Lepore and Thomas W. Siracusa voted against the proposal when it first came before them. Siracusa cited aesthetic concerns, saying he was concerned about the building being two stories.

In Dec. 2017, Town Meeting changed zoning rules for detox facilities, restricting them to industrial zones, but the Wilmington Detox special permit application was filed under the old rules.

Wednesday's meeting, like all town meetings during the coronavirus shutdown, is being conducted remotely, but members of the public will be able to make comments on the conference call.

Ethan Sawyer of Concerned Citizens of Wilmington, the group leading a fight against the proposal, has re-launched his activisim ahead of Wednesday's vote. In 2019, Sawyer called for the Board's chairman, Daniel Veerman, to recuse himself from the decision, after it was revealed that he used the term "junkie" in private Facebook posts. Sawyer himself was the center of controversy when he was outed as a pseudonymous commenter on local politics.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.