Stop Drug Rehab Facility next to Greenwood Elementary School

The goal of this initiative is to fight the placement of a drug rehabilitation facility adjacent to Greenwood Elementary School and amending the county zoning regulation to close a loophole. This loophole allows companies to operate large residential care businesses in inappropriate locations.

A for-profit out-of-state company has purchased three adjacent properties, two single-family homes and a plot of land, in a residential neighborhood in Brookeville. The county is allowing them to open a large business - a 3.5 Level Drug Rehabilitation Facility - on these properties with up to 16 patients. A 3.5 level treatment facility is designed for people with severe substance use, mental health, and behavioral challenges that are at risk of imminent harm and require 24-hour supervision.* The facility will be right next to Greenwood Elementary school and playground.

Companies like this one are using a loophole in the Montgomery County zoning code which allows them to purchase an unlimited number of adjacent residential properties to operate a for-profit business. This is currently permitted in residential areas and next to schools across all Montgomery County. Despite multiple contacts and pleas, County Councilmembers refuse to close this loophole. As a result, this could happen in any neighborhood in MoCo.

These funds will be used to fund Brookeville neighbors’ legal efforts to prevent this large facility from opening next to Greenwood Elementary School. The funds will also be used to increase community awareness of this issue in Brookeville and the greater Montgomery County, as well as to lobby the government to close the aforementioned loopholes in the zoning code.

In similar cases in Virginia and California, the courts and local representatives have determined that this type of multi-property residential care operation is incompatible with residential zoning.

Success for this effort means that corporations do not run unchecked when they choose to operate in residential locations in MoCo.

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FRIENDS OF BROOKEVILLE LLC IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION OR POLITICAL PARTY.

*American Society of Addiction Medicine, 2024, ASAM Criteria Fourth Edition Assessment Guides, https://www.asam.org/asam-criteria/implementation-tools/Criteria-assessment-guides