A Google Maps image showing Villa Bianca off Roosevelt Drive in Seymour.
SEYMOUR — The Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission at its Oct. 12 meeting unanimously approved plans by Newport Healthcare that allow the new owners of the Villa Bianca wedding venue to convert the property into a residential mental health treatment center.
“Personally, I agreed that there is a need for more of these services, it’s the highest and best use for the location, and Newport answered all concerns to our satisfaction,” commission chairman Rob VanEgghen said in an email to The Valley Indy. “More citizens will be able to access help and we’re boosting the economy instead of gaining another eyesore property.”
Neighbors who testified at several public hearings said they did not want to see the plans approved. They repeatedly expressed concerns about traffic, decreased property values, and the safety of both the facility’s patients and nearby residents.
But Newport Health cleared a crucial hurdle in April when the commission approved adding the phrase “community mental health residential living center” to its zoning regulations. That approval enabled Newport Health to present a site plan application to the commission in August. A site plan is essentially the blueprints outlining how the new use will fit inside the property.
VanEgghen said the commission took the neighbors’ concerns into consideration.
“The neighbor’s concerns were heard,” he said. “The issues they raised were all addressed, though unfortunately in some cases not to their satisfaction. The overarching theme of complaint was for the safety of the clients being near water and a state road. Newport went through exhaustive descriptions of its screening process and S.O.P. (Standard Operating Procedure) for all contingencies. Personally, I feel safer with employees on a schedule controlled to alleviate increases in traffic than I did driving by that location when a wedding or other event where drunken party goers entered the road. This was not an easy decision, in the end the commission voted based on what is in the best interests of the town as a whole.”
The property is on Roosevelt Drive, across from the Housatonic River.
Attorney Matthew Ranelli, representing the company, said Newport Health will repurpose and upgrade the existing buildings at 312 Roosevelt Drive, along with a nearby house at 129 Squantuck Road. He said the proposal will bring new jobs to town and will not impact traffic.
Ranelli expressed his gratitude for the commission’s approval.
“Newport is very pleased with the PZC’s decision and thanks everyone for their comments and support during the application process,” Ranelli said via an email to The Valley Indy. “Newport looks forward to working with the town and joining the Seymour community.”
Villa Bianca owners announced they were closing earlier this year in a Facebook post, but Newport Health is still in the process of purchasing the property. According to town land records, the building was purchased in 2017 by Villa on the River, LLC for $2.8 million.
Newport’s CEO Joe Procopio said previously his company wants to convert Villa Bianca into a 42-bed facility (with six beds in the Squantuck Road property), with 125 employees. The facility would treat young adults, typically ranging in age from 12 – 20, for various mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders and substance abuse.
Procopio 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.
Newport Healthcare was established in 2008 in California and has facilities in 11 states, with three in Connecticut in Bethlehem, Darien and Fairfield. Procopio said there is a waiting list at most of the facilities for people trying to get help.
The facility will not offer out-patient services. The management of Villa Bianca never returned calls for comment.
