Robeson County commissioner deny zoning request for rehab facility near Parkton

Aug. 1—LUMBERTON — The Robeson County Board of Commissioners brought plans to establish a drug rehab center near Parkton to a grinding halt during a meeting Monday.

Commissioners voted 7-1 to block the rezoning of a 9.4-acre tract of land at 1165 E. Parkton Tombemory Road from a residential agricultural R-A district to a Neighborhood Commercial District C-1. A request was also made for a special use permit, but the action was not considered with the rezoning rejection.

The rezoning is a critical step in the construction of a drug rehabilitation facility that is to be established by Hope Alive Inc., said Oryan Lowery, the executive director of the nonprofit entity.

Prior to the board's vote, Dixon Ivey, Robeson County's director of Planning and Inspections, told commissioners that after hearing several complaints from residents in the area, the county's Planning Board recommended denial of the rezoning.

"There were quite a large number of folks in attendance at the meeting that were in opposition to this project," Ivey told commissioners.

Ivey added that a petition with 26 names of people in opposition to the facility was submitted to him Monday morning, prior to the meeting.

Commissioner Lance Herndon, who represents the district where the center is proposed, said the matter was one of the top issues he has had to address in his district since serving on the board.

"The planning board recommended denial and I made my motion based on the feeling that it would just not be in harmony with the community," Herndon told The Robesonian.

The lone commissioner in favor of the rezoning was Commissioner David Edge.

"It's ridiculous that we have denied that," Edge told The Robesonian. "This group requested help from the state to start a rehab program and they gave them much more than they asked for because of the severe problem that we've got here in Robeson County.

"It's a great opportunity for the county and they selected probably one of the best sites that could be had in not a very dense community. It's ridiculous that it was not accepted," Edge said.

Edge said it's not a question of if the facility will happen but when.

"I'm sure they're going to take us to court and I'm sure they're going to win," Edge said.

Prior to the vote, Lowry addressed concerns that came out of the Planning Board meeting, one being the potential decrease in property value for the neighboring properties.

"There's been studies across the United States that debunk that," Lowry said during a public hearing. "They even came up with an acronym called NIMBY — Not In My Back Yard."

Ron Barnes told commissioners that since acquiring the property, the nonprofit has bettered the area. The Hope Alive nonprofit was established through the church Barnes pastors, Greater Hope International Church in Lumberton.

"Prior to going into this and prior to our going out there and doing some work on the outside of the facility, the facility was overrun with rats. It was overrun with snakes. The grass had not been cut," Barnes said. "It was an eyesore within the community. We have since then changed that. We will not make a detrimental impact on the community. We will uplift the community."

Both Lowry and Barnes reiterated that there was no "perfect place" to put a facility like this in Robeson County.

"[B]ut considering the infrastructure that's in place in Parkton we felt like we did our research and we felt like its a great opportunity," Lowry said.

What made the location for the facility at the Parkton location ideal was that it had been used as a nursing home facility in the past under the name Green Manor Rest Home, Barnes said.

"We can go in with a very minor upfit. We can change this facility into a therapeutic community," Barnes said.

The therapeutic community would include 24-hour medical staff and 24-hour a day security staff with a "state-of-the-art" security system to protect the community, according to Barnes.

"We have an epidemic that is moving through our county at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented," Barnes said.

Shon Pevia told commissioners his brother was one of the casualties of the epidemic. He was laid to rest Sunday after suffering a 40-year addiction.

"He had to go to a facility in Wilmington to get help and that is where he passed on Monday," Pevia said. "Every day he would call me and ask if the facility was up and running yet 'so I can come home and be around family to get some help.'"

Pevia said he has his own business now but he too suffered from drug addiction for 17 years.

"Everybody keeps saying we want to help but we don't want to help in our areas," Pevia said.

Barnes told The Robesonian that he was "disappointed" with the commissioner's decision but will continue to work toward constructing the facility.

"We will take whatever steps we need to take," Barnes said.

The building is expected to include a residential facility that has phases including a detox crisis phase, a residential treatment model and a therapeutic community phase and an aftercare program that includes transfer to a center with peer support.

The center is funded by a $10 million allocation to Hope Alive by legislators in the state budget signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper on Nov. 18, 2021. Hope Alive is a nonprofit organization of Greater Hope International Church in Lumberton.

The allocation will be distributed by providing $5 million this fiscal year which ends June 30 and $5 million in Fiscal Year 2022-23, according to Senate Bill 105.

Hope Alive, which has not provided such medical care before, will partner with Robeson Health Care Corporation in the effort to provide services.

Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at tsinclair@robesonian.com or 910-416-5865.