Newark Church Seeks City’s OK to Reinstate Outpatient Treatment

NEWARK — A church is seeking the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s blessing to reinstate an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Center, or IOP, in the Central Ward.

Salvation Counseling’s application from Trinity Union American Methodist Episcopal Church says senior pastor the Rev. Dr. Adolphus Scott Jr. seeks to restart the treatment center on the church's first floor at 226-230 Warren St. A Zoning Board hearing on the measure set for Thursday was adjourned to Aug. 29.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

Reached by phone on Friday, Scott said he would reserve comment until closer to the August hearing. The only modification proposed is to how the building space will be used, documents filed with the city show. Scott also did not comment on when the center previously operated, or why it closed.

“No physical changes, beyond the transitioning of the first floor between the IOP and the church use, are proposed as part of this application,” the planner’s report says. The documents do not say what treatment is to be provided.

The center would operate Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the application says. Under the local law, however, such a facility is not permitted in the zone, and so the board’s approval of a use variance is required.

A townhouse development is located to the west and the south of the building, according to the city planner’s report, which says that buildings on the campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology are to the north and east.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

About 17 people expressing interest in the application virtually raised their hands during Thursday’s Zoning Board Zoom meeting.

Among them was Society Hill resident Tina Carter, who questioned the legal requirement that people within 200 feet of the property be given written notice of the application. Carter asked that the Society Hill Homeowners Association be provided with the meeting details, even though they’re outside the legally required area to be noticed.

“I’m part of the Society Hill community that is outside of the 200 feet, but we are owners of the community center, the clubhouse, the tennis court, the playground, the swimming pool where children play, right across the street for this program,” Carter said.

Jennifer Carrillo-Perez, the attorney representing Salvation Counseling at the hearing, requested the adjournment.

The Aug. 29 meeting is scheduled to be held via Zoom, details of which are to be posted to Zoning Board’s page on the city website . It is the third time the application has been adjourned, the agenda shows.

Carrillo-Perez said the prior adjournment was so that they could hold a community meeting on the proposal, and Thursday’s adjournment was because one of her experts was not available and because of a personal scheduling conflict.

Neither a phone message nor an email to Carillo-Perez seeking additional details on the application on Friday were returned.

A man, who said he was a trustee of the church, could be found trimming the hedges and pulling ivy from a window on the side of the building, but declined to comment on the treatment center.

Trinity Union American Methodist Episcopal is the oldest fully incorporated African American Church in the United States, having been founded in 1805 and incorporated in 1813, its website says. The church has locations in eight states, and in New Jersey has 16 houses of worship, the website shows.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net