Blue Point civic group continues fight against drug and alcohol rehabilitation center

<p>Some Blue Point residents are continuing to fight against a plan that would bring a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center to their community.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 30, 2017, 10:57 PM

Updated 2,564 days ago

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Some Blue Point residents are continuing to fight against a plan that would bring a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center to their community. 
News 12 reported last week that the facility would move into the St. Ursula Center, a convent that has been home to nuns for decades. 
Sister Joanne Callahan told News 12 that they can no longer afford to pay $900,000 each year and had no choice but to sell it. They reached an agreement with the Seafield Center, a private group that wants to turn the convent into a 76-bed alcohol and drug abuse rehab center for women. 
The Ursuline Sisters say the center has been a place of hope, healing and transformation since 1935. 
James Powers, of the Blue Point Civic Coalition, says his neighborhood is not the right place for a treatment center.
"We have a lot of kids down by the convent that walk past it every day. There is a crossing guard stationed there to take care of the needs of the kids, but it is a safety issue and a concern for parents in the district," says Powers.
Longtime resident Kevin Fitz says while he has his concerns, he says he sees a real need for these types of facilities on Long Island. 
"I feel for those people…They need help," says Fitz. 
Brookhaven Town says the move would require a zoning change. 
Officials from Seafield say they have operated a treatment facility in a residential neighborhood in Westhampton Beach for 32 years with no impact on quality of life or property values for residents.