Wayne zoning board sued for rejection of inpatient detox facility
By: Philip DeVenceitis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WAYNE - A group that owns a building next to a local hospital has sued the Zoning Board of Adjustment to overturn the denial of an inpatient detox center that the partners had planned to open there.
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The case hinges almost entirely on whether there are enough parking spots for the facility.
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Representatives for WPB Investors, which has owned the 9,718-square-foot building since April 20122, said at a public hearing in November [2025] that there would be more than ample space to park, but the zoning board unanimously rejected its application.
..... The vacant building is on the south end of the 45.2-acre property occupied by St. Joseph's Wayne Medical Center which objected to the proposal through an attorney due to the parking situation and potential impact that it would have on the hospital.
..... In an eight-page lawsuit filed in state superior Court in Paterson, WPB Investors aid a judge should reverse the zoning boards decision because its members ignored credible testimony, including the detox center patients would not have their cares parked onside.
..... "The actions of the board denying plaintiff's application were arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, improper, contrary to the unreflected expert testimony, and in flagrant disregarded of the weight of the evidence," say the lawsuit.
..... The 23-bed detox center required 36 parking spots - or 1 1/2 spots per bed, according to the municipal code.
..... Twenty parking spots were proposed for the facility.
..... A traffic engineer for WPB Investors told the zoning board that the detox center operator would have shared two parking lots on the east side of the building, in additions to using the primary lot on the opposite side.
..... The Detox center would have had six employees on duty during peak staffing hours, the lawsuit states.
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WPB Investors intended to lease the facility - a former hospice - to a health care provider with Detox center in Chester, Denville, Neptune City and Saddle Brook.
..... Lawrence Calli, an attorney for WPB Invests. told the zoning board that from a parking standpoint, the proposed sue would be the best-cast scenario.
..... "The only way to beat this is to say the building shouldn't be occupied at all," Calli said to sum up testimony.
..... "That would be the only particular ways to do better than this."
..... Jason Hyndman, an attorney representing the zoning broad, said on March 11 [2026] that he board is "reviewing the complaint and will be filing a response at the appropriate time."
..... In September, 2023, the Township Council approved a measure to regulate where inpatient claimed facilities, such as detox centers, could go.
..... Such facilities are now conditionally permitted in the government use zone, which includes the hospital campus.