Opponents of a mental health crisis home lost a major round in Lyndonville this week.
The home is operated by Northeast Kingdom Human Services, an agency contracted by the state to provide temporary shelter for one or two people who need mental health support but not hospitalization.
Some neighbors say Zoning Administrator Justin Anderson should not have allowed it in a residential zone. They appealed his decision, but Lyndonville’s Design Review Board has let it stand.
Anderson says the Board found that the facility is not a state-licensed rehab center, but is governed by federal fair housing laws.
“Our zoning has to be adjusted to allow for certain uses so we’re not discriminating against a particular party of people,” said Anderson.
The neighbors could appeal the Design Review Board’s ruling to the state’s environmental court. They are still reviewing the decision. In a letter to the Caledonian Record, one opponent, Reed Garfield, writes “the board has allowed a multi-million dollar business to elbow its way into one of the nicest family neighborhoods in town.”
