LAWRENCE: Detox unit receives reprieve

Judge returns case to zoning board

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   The Zoning Board of Adjustment has been ordered to reconsider a controversial application for a residential drug and alcohol detoxification center proposed for an office park at 100 Federal City Road.
   The Simone Investment Group LLC sued the zoning board, on behalf of Sunrise Detoxification Center, after the board denied the applicant’s use variance application last summer by a 4-2 vote. The applicants sued in Mercer County State Superior Court, challenging the denial.
   Last week, Mercer County State Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson sent the application back to the zoning board after listening to oral arguments presented by attorneys for the applicant and Lawrence Township. Judge Jacobson made her ruling immediately following the presentation June 7.
   No date has been set for a public hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
   A use variance is needed because a residential drug and alcohol detoxification center — in which clients are medically weaned off alcohol and drugs before being sent to other facilities for counseling — is not a permitted use in the Professional Office zone. The zoning would permit an out-patient drug and alcohol detoxification center, however.
   Sunrise Detoxification Center, which is based in Florida and also has a clinic in Stirling, N.J., sought to open a 38-bed facility in part of a vacant office building — one of three buildings that comprises the office park at 100 Federal City Road. The office park is owned by the Simone Investment Group LLC.
   The office park is located next to the Federal Hill single-family-home subdivision and the Federal Point age-restricted subdivision. Many neighbors objected to the application and expressed concern that clients would leave the detoxification center in search of drugs or money for drugs.
   The Zoning Board of Adjustment denied the use variance application last June, following eight months of public hearings. In casting their vote on the application, several zoning board members said Sunrise Detoxification Center is a for-profit entity, while most uses that are considered to be inherently beneficial are non-profits, such as schools or houses of worship.
   The lawsuit filed by the Simone Investment Group LLC claims that a residential drug and alcohol detoxification center would be an inherently beneficial use, which is one of the “special reasons” that a zoning board may consider in determining whether to grant a use variance.
   An inherently beneficial use is defined in the state Municipal Land Use Law as a use that is universally considered of value to the community because it fundamentally serves the public good and promotes the general welfare. Examples are houses of worship, hospitals and schools.
   Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun, who doubles as the Community Development Department director, said township officials were surprised by Judge Jacobson’s decision.
   ”I am not an attorney, but I have been in the presence of Judge Jacobson twice. She is deliberative, knowledgeable in the law and intellectually astute. Nevertheless, we are surprised by her decision. This will be a very difficult matter for the zoning board to hear again,” Mr. Krawczun said.
   The manager said he was certain that the zoning board would be thorough in its review of the application as it complies with the judge’s order to use a balancing test that considers whether the benefits of an application outweigh its negative aspects.
   John Simone, a principal in the Simone Investment Group LLC, said he was “really, really pleased with the way it came down.”
   ”Sitting through the process, listening to the oral arguments (in court), you can’t get a feel for how the judge will rule. Obviously, this judge was very involved in the case, having read the transcript (of the zoning board’s public hearings). Her recall of the details was amazing,” Mr. Simone said.
   ”I guess, based on all of that, she found that we were right and the zoning board was wrong,” he said, adding that the judge did not assign a geographical boundary to “inherently beneficial use.” It’s not just inherently beneficial for New Jersey, but for the United States, he said.
   Mr. Simone said that an in-patient facility would be better for the neighborhood because there would be much less traffic, compared to an out-patient clinic that could draw 150 people daily for counseling and group sessions. The in-patient facility will generate about 40 or 50 jobs, he added.
   ”From the time the application was presented to the zoning board and through the process and up to the denial, we were confident that the record would withstand scrutiny. All the testimony was relevant and we had answers for every question (at the public hearings),” he said.
   ”We remained confident and we felt strongly that we would prevail,” Mr. Simone said.