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Hernando Today

Commission Will Consider Mental Health Facility

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: December 17, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The county commission wants to have the final say on a proposed residential mental health and drug treatment center on Grove Road.

A unanimous commission voted with little discussion Tuesday morning to consider the plan by Westbridge Community Services that had already been approved by the planning and zoning board last week.

Chairwoman Rose Rocco said she thought it would be "in the best interest of the community" for the commission to hear the evidence on both sides.
Half a dozen neighbors pleaded with commissioners on Tuesday to give the issue another hearing. They worry that the 20 male patients who would be treated for mental disorders and drug addiction at the center could pose a threat.

"They deserve a chance, but their chance should not be near us," Rose Lemieux told the board.

Frank DeAngelis, whose grandchildren and great-grandchildren live in the area, said his experience as a retired sociology professor and narcotics detective has shown him that patients simply can't always be controlled, DeAngelis said.

"There will be trouble if that facility dealing with those kinds of issues is put in that area," he said. "There is no doubt in my mind."

Residents last week presented the board with a petition of 100 signatures, many from parents of children at nearby Pine Grove Elementary School, who oppose the center proposed for 10.5 acres on the northeast corner of Grove and Oakado Street.

Westbridge officials told the planning board last week that patients come to the program on a voluntary basis and those who are determined during a screening process to be a threat to themselves or others are turned away.

Alan Garman of Civil-Tech Engineering reiterated that Tuesday. He noted that Westbridge officials had two public meetings to inform residents about the plans and only a handful of people showed up. Officials showed a video that described the private, nonprofit organization's mission, Garman said.

"It's not a hardened facility," Garman said. "Without seeing that whole video I think these people missed the boat to find out what Westbridge really does."

But commissioners noted that one of the letters sent by the applicant as a notice of the Aug. 18 public meeting referred to an "assisted living facility," something neighbors have said they would not have opposed.

Neighbors also have concerns about property values and an existing flooding problem that could be exacerbated by construction of a campus featuring a two-story dorm building, tennis courts and a pond.

Residents in nearby Brookridge also have concerns about patients making their way to that neighborhood, George Gubitose, first vice president of the homeowner's association, told the board.

Marion Kroeplin spoke in favor of the facility.

Kroeplin said the neighbors are perpetuating a "stigma" that surrounds patients with mental health issues.

"They're pushing these people aside and telling their children, 'Don't go near these people,' like mental illness is a contagious disease," Kroeplin said.

The issue will be placed on the commission's Jan. 14 land use meeting agenda.

The commission can affirm, modify or reverse the decision of the planning and zoning board, which voted 4 to 1 to approve Westbridge's application. The majority of the board said they didn't see the center as presenting a threat to the neighborhood. Member Anthony Palmieri agreed that the site isn't an appropriate place for the facility.

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

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