Drug Treatment Facility Proposed for Gallagher Township
CALDWELL – A Lock Haven area man wants to buy the Woolrich Lodge property off Little Plum Run Road in Gallagher Township to establish a drug rehabilitation center.
The developer is Robert C. “Bobby” Wise II who two years ago had received permission from Woodward Township to establish a similar facility off Route 664. That project never came to fruition.
The Wise proposal was discussed at the Gallagher Township supervisors’ meeting Monday night, before a reported standing-room-only crowd, most of those present stating their opposition to the project. The Monday session was described as an informational one. Next up is a public meeting of the Clinton County Planning Commission, set for Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at the county’s Piper Building.
Wise had approached the county planning office in early December, seeking a change to the county zoning ordinance to permit “institutional residences” as a special exception use in a woodland/conservation zoning district.
According to information from the planning commission, as circulated at the township meeting earlier this week, the request “pertains to the Woolrich Lodge property at 169 Brayton Lodge Lane” presently owned by Woolrich, Inc. The 39-acre plot is currently zoned woodlands/conservation. According to information in a planning commission analysis, Wise wants to purchase and develop the property into “an institutional residence/treatment facility accommodating up to 25 residents at one time.” The planning commission document said the lodge will be expanded and converted into a residential addiction treatment center for males and females ages 18-26. The long-term of goal of the proposed business “is to develop plans for an additional facility, either on or off site.
“Residential treatment facilities will include a 30-90 day length of stay, off-site detox, individual and group therapy sessions, physcoeducation, skills development, educational/career goal setting and development, relapse prevention, family systems intervention, and a comprehensive aftercare plan. Education will be provided in accordance with state regulations,” the planning commission analysis said.
Whatever the county planning commission might recommend, it would be forwarded to the county commissioners for their approval.
Ken Porter, who lives near the proposed facility, said nearby residents oppose the plans, stating there are a number of families with young children. He called for opponents to attend the Jan. 15 meeting and voice their disapproval.
Points raised by opponents at the supervisors’ meeting included concerns relative to the adequacy of the lodge’s septic system for 15-25 residents and an unspecified number of staff members; also an increased volume of traffic on Bear Pen Hollow Road, an unpaved highway along which the lodge is located.
Developer Robert Wise was not immediately available for comment.
