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Hernando Today

Residents Fight Mental Health Facility With Petition

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: December 12, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Residents opposed to a mental health and drug treatment facility in their neighborhood aren't giving up without a fight.

The small contingent of neighbors on Oakado Street off Grove Road are petitioning the county to revisit the issue – and enlisting parents of children who attend nearby schools.

"I lost my voice Wednesday going around talking to parents," said Amanda Goodell, who lives on Oakado Street with her husband Erick and two young children. "They're furious."

The planning and zoning board on Monday approved a rezoning request to allow Westbridge Community Services to build a campus on 10.5 acres on the northeast corner of Grove and Oakado. The property has both residential and commercial zoning, and the zoning board granted Westbridge a special exception use permit.

The center would serve male patients seeking treatment for both mental health disorders and drug addictions. The patients would live on the campus, which would feature a two-story dorm for the duration of their treatment.

Goodell and about a dozen of her neighbors failed to convince the board that the facility could present a threat to their children. They are also worried about declining property values and the potential that development on the tract would exacerbate the existing flooding problem on Oakado.

Westbridge officials stressed that would-be patients undergo evaluation prior to treatment and are not admitted if they pose a threat to themselves or others. At least one zoning commissioner said he didn't see how the neighborhood was being threatened.

Now the residents want the county commission to rehear the matter.

According to county ordinance, a majority of the board must vote to hold a hearing to review the planning and zoning board decision. That vote must come within 30 days of the planning board's vote, and the hearing within 60 days.

On Friday, Goodell headed to the county government center in Brooksville armed with a petition of 100 signatures she'd collected over two days. Many of the signers are parents with students in Pine Grove Elementary School, about two miles from the proposed site.

The petition won't be on the agenda of the commission's next regular meeting slated for Tuesday, Dec. 16, said Brenda Frazier, the county's community relations coordinator, who met with Goodell on Friday.

It will, however, be included in the agenda packet for the board's review, and a commissioner can request the item be discussed, Frazier said.

That's likely to happen, Commissioner Rose Rocco said.

Rocco said she hasn't yet reviewed background material to decide whether the matter should be reheard, but a petition with 100 signatures can't be ignored, she said.

"If other commissioners feel it warrants a rehearing, that's what we'll do," she said.

The commission can affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the zoning board

Goodell said she and her neighbors – several of whom plan to attend Tuesday's meeting – aren't convinced that Westbridge patients won't pose a threat, despite the assurances from the private, nonprofit organization's officials.

"Their behavior is already unpredictable or they wouldn't be there in the first place," Goodell said.

Albert Oemcke of Spring Hill signed the petition. His grandchild attends Pine Grove and he volunteers there.

Westbridge needs to find a place farther away from neighborhoods and schools, Oemcke said.

"I agree they need the help, but not near children," he said. "It gives (patients) an opportunity to cause a problem."

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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