Plan for Carhart Detox Center Moves Forward as Opposition Continues
Residents in White Plains‘ Carhart Neighborhood are once again working to stop the development of a proposed detox center looking to move into the now-vacant Nathan Miller Center for Nursing Care after the city’s Planning Board voted to send the application to the Common Council.
Sunrise Detox, a high-end facility for individuals struggling with substance addiction with locations in Stirling, N.J. and Lake Worth, Fla., first approached city officials around 10 months ago about constructing a 33-bed facility at 37 Dekalb Avenue.
On Monday evening, the Common Council was expected to vote to set a public hearing on Sunrise’s request for a special permit and site plan approval for Sept. 4. At the July 17 Planning Board meeting, representatives from Sunrise said their plan would reduce the footprint of the building and make the site more attractive.
“We’re also proposing to significantly modify the building, to upgrade it both aesthetically and physically and reduce the overall occupancy of the building,” explained attorney William Null of Cuddy & Feder.
“Instead of having 65 beds, we have 31 to 33 beds and we have people who are staying, as I said, six days.”
The proposal immediately raised some concerns in the Carhart neighborhood, a residential area a short walk from downtown White Plains, when it was first brought up last year.
“It’s certainly inappropriate for a residential neighborhood. I can’t imagine the [White Plains Common] Council feeling that this could benefit White Plains in general,” said Ken Kristal of the Carhart Neighborhood Association. “I just think the risks far outweigh the potential benefit.”
Kristal said he was concerned about the neighborhood’s safety, noting there are several school bus stops in the area.
“These people are at a very sad state in their life and at a desperate state,” he said.
At the July 17 Planning Board meeting, Sunrise officials looked to allay those fears. Linda Burns, the Chief Nursing Officer at Sunrise Detox, called the facilities “upscale” and noted that all patients were at the facility voluntarily and not court-mandated.
“We don’t take people off the street,” Burns said. “These are not people who are actively psychotic, actively suicidal, actively homicidal. That would not be our clientele.”
Much of the discussion at the planning board meeting centered around parking in the area. In addition to the 30 residents there will be 19 employees at the facility, Sunrise officials said. While nine will park at the site, 10 will be shuttled from a different site. All patients will be driven to the facility.
After hearing from Sunrise representatives, planning members spoke positively about the proposal, noting it would be a less intensive use than the nursing home had been.
Opponents of the project have launched an online petition, which has received dozens of signatures. Kristal said representatives from the neighborhood plan to speak out against the proposal before the Aug. 6 Common Council meeting.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
