Community Corner

Zoning Board Of Appeals Says No To Residential Facility For Recovering Addicts

The Zoning Board of Appeals has denied an application for a variance that would have established a temporary home for recovering addicts at 171 Rope Ferry Road.

Board members said their reasons had nothing to do with public safety.

"This isn't a safety issue, it's a zoning issue," said board member Joshua Freeman.

Board Chairwoman Barbara Pancera said the applicant, CSE Waterford, had failed to prove its claims that it would suffer hardship if the variance was not granted and that the board did not have the authority to legislate new uses.

"I am relieved," said Christine Bonnano, one of many residents who spoke out against the plan to turn what was once a nursing home into temporary housing for 144 men in recovery for substance addiction. "It just didn't fit in," she said.

Bonnano, who lives on Daniels Avenue, said that she was concerned that if the variance was granted to create this new use in Waterford that other similar facilities might also open. With the now defunct Southwest School even closer to home, she said, that worried her.  

Stonington Institute, which was proposing to operate the facility, currently operates 13 residential facilities in the region, including a small one in Waterford. The board noted, however, that the type of residential facility it had in mind for the Rope Ferry Road property was a unique concept.

"This committee doesn't have the power to legislature new uses," said board member Thomas Malley, Jr.

The board's decision to deny the application was unanimous and carefully worded in an attempt to reduce the likelihood that the decision will be appealed. There is still a chance that CSE Waterford will appeal, however.  

"It's been a long ordeal," said Pancera. "Hopefully, tonight it will all be behind us."


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