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Sunrise submitted additional materials to the Common Council on Thursday, after the public comment period had closed. The council passed a resolution extending the comment period until 5 p.m. Jan. 22 to give the public time to respond to the new materials.
Sunrise Detox submitted an application to the city in the summer for a special permit and site plan approval to operate a short-term, medically supervised detoxification center with up to 33 inpatient beds. All clients would be voluntary and would stay an average of 5.7 days. The facility would have limited access, with door alarms, cameras and tracking every half-hour.
Sunrise submitted a report Thursday saying that Sunrise White Plains would not adversely impact neighborhood property values, as some members of the public had told the council it would during the public comment period. The appraiser-consultant report based its findings on an analysis of property values surrounding Sunrise’s facility in Stirling, N.J.
Furthermore, the applicant claimed that the city has a duty to Sunrise to make “reasonable accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, including “relaxing or not enforcing a zoning rule, waiving a policy, granting a use variance or special exception, construing a provision in the code favorable to the applicant, treating a use as permissible and making other types of exceptions.”
Members of the Carhart Neighborhood Association took issue at three public hearings on the application with Sunrise applying as a “community residence,” which cannot have more than 14 beds, several residents said. However, William Null, lawyer for Sunrise, said that is why Sunrise is applying for a special permit, which would allow it to conform to the zoning of the neighborhood.
Even if the city found Sunrise White Plains is not a “community residence,” the applicant claims in its letter that the city should determine Sunrise White Plains is the “functional equivalent” of one.
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