Drug Treatment Center Loses Lawsuit

A lawsuit against East Hampton Town, filed a year ago by a privately held drug treatment program in the Northwest Woods neighborhood, was dismissed on March 2 by a federal court judge in Central Islip. The judge, Leonard D. Wexler, found that Safe Harbor Retreat L.L.C. should have undergone a permitting process outlined in the zoning code before bringing the suit.

Safe Harbor charged that the town had violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act, in that it discriminated against patients in drug treatment. It also asserted that the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals had exceeded its authority in creating definitions for words like “clinic” and “transient,” which are not defined in the code; that board members had ignored submitted materials, had “denied Safe Harbor’s request for a reasonable accommodation,” and had “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally reclassified the premises.”

Safe Harbor was contesting a June 2013 decision by the appeals board upholding a building inspector’s determination that the facility, on a 3.9-acre former residence on Bull Run, was not being used as a family dwelling, but as a semi-public facility. The neighborhood is zoned for residential use.

In 2010, before it began operating and based on information given him by its founder, Joe McKinsey, and others, the inspector, Tom Preiato, had determined that the facility would function as “a family unit” under the code. That finding caused Safe Harbor “to have expended significant funds and effort to establish the premises as a community residence for individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction,” the suit had claimed.

It opened for business Nov. 30, 2010. Three years later, the zoning board voted 4-1 to uphold Mr. Preiato’s new determination, in which he reversed his 2010 finding. The dissenting vote was cast by Don Cirillo. The majority agreed that “Safe Harbor’s use of the premises was not consistent with the use as a residence only,” and that it was being operated as a “short-term treatment facility and not as a residence, as was initially represented to the town.”

“Rather than seek a special permit, Safe Harbor filed this action,” Judge Wexler wrote. “Safe Harbor has not applied for a special permit, let alone received a final decision on that application.”

Joseph N. Campolo, a Ronkonkoma lawyer representing Safe Harbor, said his clients would appeal the decision “and are absolutely confident we will win.”

Since the lawsuit was filed, Safe Harbor has opened a second facility, on Fort Pond Boulevard in Springs.