JACKSON – Testimony regarding a proposed post-detoxification rehabilitation facility continued at a recent meeting of the Jackson Zoning Board of Adjustment as representatives of the applicant sought to make a case for the business.
White Oak Center LLC is proposing to develop and operate a 46-bed facility in the Pushkin Memorial Home, an assisted living facility, on Pushkin Road. The applicant is seeking a use variance because a rehabilitation facility is not permitted in Jackson’s R-1 residential zone.
Testimony is expected to resume at the zoning board’s Feb. 6 meeting.
White Oak Center is proposing to operate a residential inpatient facility and no outpatient programs.
During a zoning board meeting on Dec. 19, Joseph Marino, a community relations representative from Premier Addiction Treatment Centers, testified that most of the individuals who stay at the facility will have insurance. He said some people will pay for the services themselves.
Architect Daniel Condatore described the floor plans for the facility.
“The building as it exists primarily is going to remain the same, we are just making the alterations required for the program of the (proposed) facility. The state requires that we have a certain amount of community space, dining space and things like that,” he said.
Condatore said the building “is old and in need of repair.” He said bedrooms would be refurbished and some walls would be reconfigured. A kitchen, mechanical rooms and a laundry room will remain in place.
He said mechanical systems and lighting would be upgraded. There is no elevator in the building and the plan before the zoning board does not call for the construction of an elevator.
He said the first floor will have a percentage of rooms that are accessible to all individuals. The entrance will have a ramp that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The first floor will also have community space and group rooms.
The second floor will be reconfigured and have bedrooms, bringing the total number of bedrooms in the building to 46, according to Condatore.
“Again, the footprint of the building itself is not being increased, we are upgrading,” he told the board members.
The board’s chairman, Sheldon Hofstein, asked how many exits are proposed for the basement.
Condatore said the plan shows an exit stairway in the back, an exit stairway on the side and one internal exit stairway to the first floor.
Board member Joseph Sullivan asked if it would be safer to have an elevator going from the basement to the top (second) floor, specifically to assist individuals who may have a disability.
“We would not put anybody who is disabled in a bedroom on the lower floor (basement), there would be no need to. We have enough bedrooms for the requirement at the main level. We would not put anybody (with a disability) in a bedroom (on the basement level),” Condatore said.
Testimony provided by the applicant indicated the state requires there to be two handicap accessible bedrooms in the building.
Attorney Peter Van Dyke, who represents the applicant, followed up on Condatore’s answers to Sullivan’s questions.
“Since you cannot use an elevator in emergencies, to put somebody with a disability either (in the basement) or on the second floor would not make any sense,” the attorney said.
Van Dyke said that in an emergency, people in the building would be directed to use the stairs and not an elevator, even if there was an elevator in the building.
Planner Justin Auciello, representing the applicant, said he believed everyone in the meeting room that evening could agree addiction is at a crisis level in New Jersey.
“That is not just anecdotal evidence. There was data that was recently released by the state that showed in 2016, of all counties, Ocean County had the second highest number of overdoses in the state, that number is 253. That comes out to one death for every 2,344 residents,” Auciello said.
He said six towns in Ocean County — Jackson, Berkeley Township, Toms River, Brick Township, Lacey and Manchester — are in the top 30 of highest heroin abuse in the state.
“I think it is clear there is an extreme public interest in helping to mitigate or alleviate this crisis,” Auciello said.
The planner said it was his opinion that “you really cannot find a better location for this use” in Jackson.
“This is an area that is surrounded by woods and our engineer has testified we are hundreds of feet away from the nearest residential use that is either existing or proposed,” Auciello said.
He said he believes the application is a better alternative than what currently exists at the site.
“You heard from our architect with respect to the current condition of the structure and of the property … We are proposing a vast upgrade to not only the aesthetics of the structure, but the functionality of the overall property as well. My opinion is there really are no detrimental effects that would ensue from the granting of this variance,” Auciello said.
He said the rehabilitation facility would be highly secured, in response to concerns raised by members of the public during a previous hearing.
“We have certainly done our homework in proposing a product that is not only going to meet the needs of Ocean County, the state and the region, but is also going to be respectful and protective of Jackson,” Auciello said.
He said the proposed facility would be a more efficient use of the land.
“I say it would be a more efficient use because we are not going to a vacant property and building (a new structure). We are rehabilitating an existing structure. We are reusing this building for a positive public purpose,” Auciello said.
Board member Kathryn McIlhinney asked Auciello if he thought the site on Pushkin Road would be the best location in Jackson for the rehabilitation facility in part because the property is being used in a similar manner.
Auciello said he thought the property on Pushkin Road would be the best location in Jackson for the proposed use.
Hofstein clarified that the Pushkin Memorial Home is more of a boarding house than a nursing home or medical facility.
