BERKELEY, NJ — A special Berkeley Township Planning Board meeting will be held this month on an application to add a detox center to the second floor of Crystal Lake Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Bayville.
The health center had previously applied to the planning board regarding the detox center but it was denied. While hospitals are allowed in the zone its located in, detox centers are not. Those are allowed in the Forest Industrial Zone, which is a “small, remote zoning district.”
Following the denial, Crystal Lake then filed a lawsuit against the board and township, arguing that they were being “arbitrary and capricious” in their denial and that members of the board based their denial on preconceived notions of “hostile and discriminatory stereotypes of persons seeking treatment for substance abuse disorder,” the lawsuit says.
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Crystal Lake would turn the second floor of the building at 395 Lakeside Blvd. into a 24-bed detox center. There would be no additional construction needed. It would not be operated by Crystal Lake; it would instead be leased to an outside operator.
Patients can already seek rehab and treatment for substance abuse disorder at the center, this would just add an on-site medical detoxification option.
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According to the lawsuit, only private and voluntary patients from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware will be accepted, following a background check. Patients will be constantly monitored by cameras and staff, and will not be able to leave the second floor.
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The special hearing, set for Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m., is what is called a “Whispering Woods” hearing, based on a case from the 1980s.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because another Whispering Woods hearing is happening this month, as Quantum Behavioral Health seeks to turn the former Bayville Manor on Allard Road into a medical detox and rehab center. Read more: Settlement Hearing Set For Proposed Rehab Facility In Berkeley
Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting.
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