Parents say no to drug rehab by school Residents pack town hall for initial hearing on application BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer The owners of an Aberdeen residential facility for mentally disabled adults want to turn their facility into a drug abuse treatment center, a proposal that has upset parents who send their children to a nearby school. On Oct. 10, residents packed town hall for a Zoning Board hearing regarding the future of 351 Myrtle St. Over a dozen residents expressed concern regarding the proposed facility's location, which is very close to the Matawan Aberdeen Middle School. Applicants Marshall and Rosemary Sherman applied to expand the current facility and utilize it as a residential health-care facility for drug abuse treatment and behavioral management, according to the hearing agenda. This is a change from the business' current use as a residential health-care facility. Complicating matters, the township could not locate records for the business as it operated over the past 40-plus years. Although the Shermans bought the business in 1997, it has been in operation for over 40 years. Freehold-based attorney Fredrick Niemann spoke on behalf of the Shermans, explaining his clients are not applying to increase the number of residents at the treatment center, but to expand and modernize the older home. Niemann argued that although the business is located in a residential zone, a use variance should not be necessary because the establishment is operating as a pre-existing nonconforming use. The attorney added that if the Zoning Board does not agree with his interpretation, he would request a use variance for the same purpose. The first and only witness of the evening was the home's previous owner, James Lawson, a retired nurse and former Keyport councilman. Lawson ran the facility from 1963 to 1997 as a home for 20-22 mentally ill adults. Lawson testified for almost three hours, answering questions from Niemann, the Zoning Board and members of the public. Lawson explained the history of the business, saying he bought the building from a woman who was already operating it as a boarding home for elderly, bedridden adults. "It was just people in bedrooms that she took care of," Lawson said. "That was the way it was back in the '60s and '50s." Zoning Board attorney Michael Leckstein questioned if Lawson's business was ever legitimately licensed. "I understand you got some sort of license," Leckstein said. "Did you ever get a license from the township of Aberdeen saying you were going to have a mental-health-care facility?" Lawson said that his township license was renewed annually, a procedure that involved health and building inspections. "I'm sorry the township felt it wasn't important to write it down," Lawson said. Lawson said that the state also licensed him and that "the state would not license me if I didn't have a license from the town." Lawson further explained that the business has been in use longer than the current zoning regulations and licensing requirements. "It was grandfathered in after you came up with a zoning restriction," Lawson said. "It was in use way before there was a Zoning Board." Many residents were critical of Lawson, including Lucille Kentner. Kentner read a 1995 New York Times article about Lawson and his boarding home that she found on the Internet. Kentner said the article showed Lawson was allowing his residents to come and go at all hours, leaving the door unlocked and consequently posing a threat to the neighborhood. Lawson explained that when speaking to newspaper reporters, he usually tried to make conditions at the boarding house sound worse than they actually were in order to drum up donations. Kentner was also critical of Niemann for referring to his client as Dr. Sherman. "Dr. Sherman, he's a dentist," Kentner said. "He's not licensed by the state of New Jersey [to run a mental-health-care facility]." Coincidentally, the next public speaker also happened to be a dentist. "Do they call you doctor?" asked Leckstein. "They did all day," said resident Jonathon Goldenthal, before asking about the possibility of sex offenders living at the facility. Lawson said there were no sex offenders living at the home while he owned it. Thomas Aljian Jr., Republican candidate for Aberdeen Township Council, asked if the residents were long-term or transient, or in other words, how long each resident might typically stay at the boarding home. Lawson responded that some of his residents lived there for as many as 30 years while most stayed at least several years. Longtime Myrtle Street resident Cathy Dollear is a direct neighbor of the boarding house. She testified that Lawson "was a fabulous neighbor." "In 10 years, I have not met the Shermans," Dollear said. "If they were sitting in this room right now, I wouldn't know them." Dollear added that Lawson took good care of the residents and that he was in good contact with all the neighbors about what was happening at the boarding house. "He loved those residents and I just don't feel it's the same kind of home that's there right now," Dollear said. On Monday, Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education President Lawrence O'Connell expressed his reservations about the proposal. O'Connell said he is worried about the students in grades 6-8 who attend the middle school. He also pointed out that Cliffwood Elementary School, a K-3 school, is also nearby, roughly 1,000 feet from the boarding home. "My main concern is that they appear to want to use the facility as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility and the close proximity of that facility to our school children may in fact pose a possible danger to our kids," he said. O'Connell was clear in his stance on the on the topic. "If the Zoning Board were to agree to this, it would really pose an unacceptable risk on our students and our staff. And I sincerely hope they reject this application quickly." A continuation on the application is scheduled for Oct. 24. In the case of a conflict, the board also chose the date of Nov. 30 as a possible continuation date.