Changing Westminster inn into 'sober hotel' must await approval, says official

• Changing Westminster inn into 'sober hotel' must await approval, says official


Westminster's building commissioner said a proposal to run a "sober hotel" at the Wachusett Village Inn during the zoning process for use as full addiction rehabilitation center cannot move forward without town approval. T&G File Photo/Rick Cinclair
• 
  

  By Paula J. Owen
  Telegram & Gazette Staff 

  Posted Sep. 2, 2015 at 6:48 PM
  Updated Sep 3, 2015 at 6:42 PM
  

  WESTMINSTER – The town’s building commissioner said a proposal to run a “sober hotel” at the Wachusett Village Inn during the zoning process for use as full addiction rehabilitation center cannot move forward without town approval.

  The Crowley family is selling 9.8 acres of the 100 acres they own at the inn property at 9 Village Inn Road off of Route 2 to Jack Maroney, the founder of Spring Hill Recovery Center in Ashby, who wants to convert it into an addiction rehabilitation center.

  The Crowleys own Polar Beverages in Worcester and have operated the hotel, conference center and restaurant at the inn for 19 years and also run  ski operations at Wachusett Mountain on land leased from the state.

  David Crowley, managing director of the inn and general manager of the ski area, said both he and Mr. Maroney have signed the purchase and sale agreement for the property and he has already refunded families for 15 weddings that were scheduled after Jan. 1 to give them time to re-plan their events. Mr. Crowley said previously Mr. Maroney could run the business as a “sober hotel” until everything goes through with the town to run a rehab center.

  
  
  

  However, Westminster Building Inspector and Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael A. Gallant said the town will not allow any change of use of the inn until all local and state zoning requirements are met, including Mr. Maroney obtaining a special permit from Westminster’s Zoning Board of Appeals. A public hearing is required as part of the special permitting process.

  The Crowleys came into his office with an engineer Tuesday, Mr. Gallant said, but did not provide enough information for him to put together a letter of determination that would allow them to take the next step with the proposal. A letter of determination from the building commissioner is needed before Mr. Maroney can apply for ZBA approval on the proposal for a 40-bed facility.

  Mr. Gallant said he needs more information on the proposal and said he recommended that the Crowleys have an engineer go through the building to see if it would meet zoning codes required for such a facility. Mr. Gallant said Mr. Maroney cannot run a “sober hotel” on the property and the town does have jurisdiction over such facilities.

  “He cannot run as a sober hotel,” he said. “They need to have a contractor go through to see what needs to be done.”

  Mr. Maroney said he will hire an engineer and architect for assistance with the planning process.

  The center, he said, is his “heart and soul.” He added, “It is my passion and there is a need for it. My dream and vision is for a truly magnificent recovery community there.”

  Town planner Stephen J. Wallace said he has received phone calls from neighbors in the area of the inn concerned about the proposal, though the area off Exit 26 on Route 2 is not densely populated.

  “A number of people in the neighborhood are concerned,” Mr. Wallace said. “They are worried clients will leave the premises and get onto their property.”

  Mr. Wallace said he asked Ashby’s police Chief Fred S. Alden IV if there were any issues at Spring Hill, and that “never happened” in the three years since it opened there. Mr. Wallace said he was also told there were no more calls for service at the Ashby facility than at any other business in the town.

  He said he researched Spring Hill and said the inn proposal is very similar to operations in Spring Hill. Patients will enter the rehab at the inn voluntarily, he said, meaning the rehab will not take court commitments.

  “Those are problematic because they don’t typically want to be there,” he said. “The Crowleys have been talking to me for four years about what they can do with the property. Other than ski season, the inn runs at about 30 percent capacity. They did pitch a Home Depot to the town years ago, but that idea was soundly rejected. This town has an aversion to big box retail. They’re just not just going to have it.”

  He added that Mr. Maroney must come before the town with a site plan for review for his “fairly significant change of use” proposal.

  “If neighbors want to keep it as a nature preserve, they have the right to buy it and put a conservation restriction on it,” Mr. Wallace said. “Otherwise, people are free to do with their land what zoning allows.”