Court Rules For Cortlandt ZBA Over Drug Rehab Center Plan

CORTLANDT, NY — A proposed hospital for substance abuse has won a ruling in state Supreme Court over opponents who don't want the former Hudson Institute site developed. A group of residents had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Cortlandt Zoning Board of Appeals decision in favor of the proposal by Hudson Ridge Wellness Center Inc.

There once was a sanitorium at 2016 Quaker Ridge Road. The Wellness Center wants to put a new specialty hospital on the 20.8 acre lot that would provide residential treatment for up to 92 patients with substance abuse disorders.

The center needs a zoning variance from the town's zoning law requiring hospitals in a residential district to front on a state road. Quaker Ridge Road is a town road.

The Cortlandt Town Zoning Board of Appeals made an initial determination that the hospital needs an "area" variance under the town's Zoning Code. The board members said they would hold more public hearings about whether to grant such a variance.

Neighbors who have opposed the project before the Planning and Zoning boards sued, arguing that a "use" variance was in fact required.

The court pointed out that it was the opponents who had asked the ZBA to consider the procedural issue of a "use" or "area" variance. That kind of limited interim decision is only "ripe for judicial review" once a final determination has been reached on a project.

The court also pointed out that opponents still have a clear opportunity to convince the ZBA to reject the variance they are considering. A "hypothetical injury which rests upon the occurrence of events which might or might not occur at a future point in time" does not merit judicial review, said Judge Susan Cacace.

The opponents have formed a group called Citizens For Responsible Hudson Institute Site Development, whose Facebook page can be found here.

Their position is supported by the Greater Teatown Defense Alliance, which issued a statement on the ruling through its public relations firm. The neighbors' group remains committed to fighting the proposal. They said they fear drinking water problems, and they argued that the fact that the site isn't on a state road could threaten patients at the "for-profit, luxury drug and substance abuse rehabilitation facility" with "limited access to medical needs."

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