Group Tries To Open Matawan Sober Living Home

MATAWAN, NJ — A Monmouth County brother-sister team seeks to open a 10-person sober living home on Shainy Lane in Matawan, but the town rejected their initial application, saying it violates local zoning laws.

Matawan Administrator Scott Carew said the town has nothing against a sober living home; it's just that the number of tenants who would be living on the property exceeds residential zoning laws.

The group that wants to open the home is CFC Recovery, an addiction recovery program based out of Farmingdale. CFC Recovery is run by Daniel Regan and his sister, Ashley Regan.

In August, CFC put in a zoning application to the Matawan construction/zoning office to rent out the Shainy Lane property, and convert it into a sober living facility. They said in their application 10 residents would be living there.

"Because the proposed use would violate Matawan’s local zoning ordinances, the application was denied," said Carew. "It is my understanding that the number of residents they were proposing to house at this site would have been at least double the amount of residents allowed in a group home in this residential zone."

Carew said the town of Matawan checked with the state, specifically the Department of Community Affairs Bureau of Rooming and Boarding House Standards, which issues licenses for such facilities. He said the state confirmed the town's rejection.

“Having 10 tenants in a rental home would put the property in a different occupancy class for a residential unit," said Carew. "That classification is not permitted in our R-100 residential zone. A sober living home must comply with local zoning ordinances. So there is no battle that Matawan is participating in. Certainly not against the idea of sober living homes."

Carew also said there already exists similar rehab facilities in Matawan "without any issues." He also said he emailed the CFC executive director, saying he "would be more than happy to help you and CFC with your efforts."

"We're not going to stop fighting," countered Ashley Regan.

"This is a classic case of not in my backyard; people don't want someone in recovery in their backyard. Unfortunately we've encountered this age-old stigma many, many times before. There are a lot of state laws that townships are not aware of."

She said she could not immediately say how many residents would be living in the home because "it depends what kind of license we get from the state."

Daniel Regan, 29 — who was interviewed in this article about drug relapses skyrocketing during the lockdown — beat heroin addiction himself. He founded CFC (Coming Full Circle) Recovery with his mom, Lynn Regan, and currently runs five sober living facilities in Monmouth and Ocean counties. It is his life's mission to help others stop using drugs.

CFC has been working with Matwan residents Marianne and Claude Thouret Jr, whose son Justin died of a heroin overdose at the age of 31. CFC has already been holding weekly support group meetings for recovering addicts at the Freneau fire house in Matawan.

"There's a reason we're in Matawan. They asked us to come," said Regan. "These are longtime Matawan residents; she taught in the Matawan school district for thirty years.

"They offered to rent their house on Shainy Lane to us. They would move out, and those in recovery would move in and live there full time, along with a live-in house manager and peer support specialists on staff coming in every day."

The Thouret home is only a few blocks away on Shainy Lane and it would serve as a base for men and women who are in the last steps of their recovery from drug/alcohol addiction.

"These are people who are in the final stages of recovery," explained Regan. "They've gone through treatment, they've stopped using drugs. They are now just working to get their lives — and often their kids — back."

"We already have a wait list to get in," she continued. "These people are 22 to 32 years old, the majority are from Monmouth County. They go to work from 9-5, and then a recovery meeting at 7 and then on weekends we have a whole list of activities for them to do. That's been their life for the past two years. It's very structured."

CFC residents already volunteer at Matawan park clean-ups and such around the borough on weekends.

To live at the home, you must have a full-time job and attend recovery meetings. Drug screening is done every day and if a person has been found to relapse, they are kicked out of the home, she said. Also, registered sex offenders are not allowed to live there.

Heroin addiction is high in all of Monmouth County, but the Bayshore area, from Matawan to Sandy Hook, has been particularly hard hit.

"There is nowhere else for them to go; their families don't want them back right now," said Regan. "We are fighting a very old, old stigma and it's never easy. I wish people would say, Please, come in and help our communities. If it doesn't happen at Shainy, it will happen somewhere else. We'll make it happen. We will continue to fight for these people."

Keep reading: Monmouth County Mom: My Son Relapsed During The Quarantine (April 29, 2020)