Rob VanEggen, chairman of the Seymour Planning & Zoning Commission, addresses residents at the end of a meeting in February.
SEYMOUR – The plan to convert the Villa Bianca wedding venue on Route 34 into a residential mental health treatment center cleared a crucial hurdle on April 13 when members of the Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5 – 1 to add the phrase “community mental health residential living center” to the property’s zoning language.
The move enables Newport Healthcare to submit a site plan to the town explaining how the company intends to change the property.
After the commission’s vote, several residents shouted “cowards” and “it’s sad,” and then left the meeting. About 40 people were there.
“I think it’s atrocious, it’s a shame that the town has agreed to this,” Roosevelt Drive (also known as state Route 34) resident Joan Firmender said. She had circulated a petition signed by 128 people in opposition to the zone-text change.
“I think that the gentlemen that run this meeting have opened Pandora’s box and they’re going to live and die by their choices. Route 34 is a very dangerous road,” Firmender said. “When people start dying on Route 34 and people start drowning in the river, it’s going to be on them. This (facility) shouldn’t be here.”
Firmender said she and her neighbors are going to discuss their options to fight the plan, which could include bringing a lawyer onboard to help.
Neighbors, at previous meetings, said that the commission is making mistakes along Route 34 by approving projects that just don’t fit. They cited the approval of an apartment building last year as an example.
Newport Healthcare is under contract to purchase Villa Bianca at 312 Roosevelt Drive, as well as a house next door at 129 Squantuck Road.
Villa Bianca is still open, though the business posted on Facebook earlier this year that it would be closing. The post was removed, and the owners have not returned repeated calls for comment.
Newport’s CEO Joe Procopio said previously that his company wants to convert Villa Bianca into a 42-bed facility (with six beds in the Squantuck Road property), with about 125 employees. The facility would treat young adults for various mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
Procopio also said about two-thirds of Newport’s clients are typically teenage girls, around age 17, suffering from depression, anxiety and trauma. Other clients, about 3 percent, are treated for substance abuse, he said.
Many residents living on Roosevelt Drive and the surrounding neighborhoods told the commission at two previous public hearings that mental health treatment facilities are needed — but not at 312 Roosevelt Drive.
Residents cited concerns over traffic, the safety of residents and patients, noise and lighting issues, and a potential decrease in property values.
The commission’s 5 – 1 vote changes the zoning language for Seymour’s “RC‑3,” or recreational/commercial zone. If and when Newport Healthcare submits a site plan, the company would be subject to a “special permit” review, which officials said allows the commission greater influence over how the property is used.
Attorney Matthew Ranelli, representing Newport, said he was pleased with the commission’s action.
“They approved the zone change and we will now come up with a special permit application which will include a site plan,” Ranelli said. “We’re pleased with the decision, and we’re going to evaluate this and come up with a plan.”
Ranelli said he did not have a timeline of when Newport will appear back before the commission with a site plan.
Commissioner Brian Sirowich cast the sole dissenting vote against the zone-text amendment.
