Politics & Government

Zoning Board Wants More Information On Wilmington Detox Proposal

The board took no action Wednesday night as an overflow crowd turned out to voice opposition to the project.

WILMINGTON, MA -- The Zoning Board of Appeals continued a public hearing on a controversial proposal to build an addiction treatment facility on Middlesex Avenue until its April 25 meeting. 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.

In December, Wilmington voters approved a change to zoning laws that would limit such facilities to industrial areas of town. But because Betterment LLC filed its application for a special permit before thse rules were adopted, it is subject to the old zoning laws.

At Wednesday's 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."

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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.

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On Wednesday, however, all of the residents who spoke on the project 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," according to the Lowell Sun, which first reported this story. 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.


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