Northfield neighbors balk at sober living facility in tight quarters

An angry mob, pitch forks sharpened and torches ablaze, crowded into City Hall last week after learning a monster would soon be settling down in their midst.

The scene March 8 in Northfield was far less dramatic than the one in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” but certainly was fueled by the same base fears.

Stop the Heroin, an Egg Harbor Township-based sober living facilitator, bought a five-bedroom home where it will run a Cooperative Sober Living Residence (CSLR) licensed by the state Department of Community Affairs.

A rotating group of 11 women who have completed a drug-rehabilitation program and want to continue their recovery from opioid addiction will live in the home.

The neighbors have a right to express their fears. 

They are concerned first and foremost about the safety of their children, themselves, their neighbors and their properties. They are concerned about the loss of desirability and therefore value of their homes. They are concerned about upkeep and maintenance and about 11 women living in a five-bedroom home where there is little to no parking.

What makes matters worse — makes this a terrible place for this type of facility — is the property’s location and orientation.

The home is tucked back into a tight-knit neighborhood with multiple children and just 500 feet from a public playground and the bicycle path. It also abuts seven other properties, spreading its impact to homes on three different streets.

The house itself is located on the front portion of the property, leaving a large back yard that extends behind multiple homes. Worse yet, it has a second-floor deck — a likely gathering place since residents are forbidden from smoking in the front yard — within view of the park.

Stop the Heroin has every right under state law to operate the facility at this location and practically anywhere else, and the fact remains that people in recovery need somewhere to live lest they return to their old, unhealthy life and lifestyle.

City Council indicated it would reach out to local legislators to encourage a limit on the number of such homes that could be located in any one municipality, but there is now no limit. That is a smart decision and could lead to change.

Stop the Heroin co-founder Bill Schmincke said his “house guests” want to live sober, productive lives or they would not have applied to live in a CSLR. It certainly is in the residents’ interest to do so, and their continued recovery would benefit not only themselves but also their neighbors, families, friends, community and society in general.

Because everything the facility is doing is legal and above board, it seems the best outcome would result from welcoming the new neighbors into the community and supporting their sobriety through either kindness or at least a lack of scorn and judgment. The added support from neighbors could help these women on their difficult road to recovery.