CAMDEN, Maine — A controversial high-end alcohol rehabilitation center planned for Camden has been given the green light to open by the state.
McLean Hospital Borden Cottage, the name of the facility at Fox Hill in Camden, was given a provisional one-year license last week to operate the rehab center, according to Maine Department of Health and Human Services spokesman David Sorensen.
A provisional license is typical when a behavioral or treatment center opens, he said. The facility can apply for a renewal next year.
“McLean Hospital has met all licensing requirements and DHHS has issued McLean Fox Hill a one-year provisional license to operate as a behavioral health facility,” DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew said in a statement issued by the department. “Opponents of this facility have acknowledged that DHHS’s licensing process considers clinical requirements and not the concerns they have raised, which are governed by local ordinances.”
The center plans to open early next year despite a continued legal challenge by opponents. The opponents, including neighbors to the Fox Hill property, filed a federal lawsuit on March 27, claiming the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act was being used inappropriately by Fox Hill to avoid local ordinance restrictions.
Dr. Philip Levendusky, who is starting up the program at the Camden center, said he expects the opening to occur between Jan. 15 and Feb. 15. The center will employ 30 to 35 people, he estimated. He said the goal was to rely heavily on the “talent of the Midcoast region.”
The issue has been a divisive one in Camden for the past year as Fox Hill Real Estate, the owner of the property, had initially attempted to get the town to amend its zoning laws to allow the treatment center to operate in the residential area of Bay View Street.
That didn’t happen, however, as the Camden Select Board in February voted 3-2 against placing the proposed zoning change on the municipal ballot. McLean and Fox Hill then announced they would reduce the number of beds at the treatment center from 12 to eight to allow the center to fall under the designation of a community living arrangement that they said was protected against discrimination by the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act.
That action prompted the lawsuit filed in U. S. District Court by Undercliff Cottage LLC, Phelan 2006 Family Trust, Julie and Charles Cawley, Parker Laite Sr. and Friends of Camden Maine LLC.
“Defendants hope this facade will salvage the enormous profit they had envisioned for their facility. Permitting this venture to go forward would be an extreme perversion of the fundamental purpose of the [Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act],” the neighbors said in their initial filing.
McLean and Fox Hill Real Estate asked in their court responses to have the case dismissed, arguing that the neighbors were wrongly asking the court to declare that wealthy disabled people were not protected by the federal law. This amounts to discrimination, the center’s developers stated.
The Fox Hill owners want to lease the 16,442-square-foot home at 235 Bay View St. for use as a center where patients would spend a month for treatment. Patients would pay $50,000-$60,000 for the month’s stay on the nearly 14-acre property.
The neighbors claim the improper use of the Fox Hill property would adversely affect their properties by substantially increasing traffic and noise in the area, and it would pose a serious safety problem because of the narrowness and sharp turn on Bay View Street. The market value of properties near the treatment center also would be harmed, according to the lawsuit.
A federal judge has yet to rule on McLean and Fox Hill’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed.
A telephone message left Tuesday for the attorney for the opponents, David Burger of New York City, was not immediately returned.