Hernando rehab facility denied expansion

A drug rehabilitation center in Spring Hill will not be allowed to expand.

County commissioners voted 4-1 to reject a special exception use permit which would have permitted three new buildings on a 3-acre site, increasing bed capacity from 22 to 54.

For 90 minutes, commissioners heard testimony from center officials and about 50 residents who live near the center off Cessna Drive in Spring Hill.

Neighbors fear an outbreak of robberies, mail theft and increased drug activity from the patients being treated for alcohol and drug addiction.

But the president of Suncoast Rehabilitation Center, Eric Mitchell, discounted those fears and said rehab patients are there voluntarily. He stressed there would be stringent security measures.

"These are good people," Mitchell said. "They're there because they want to change their life and they need help."

Mitchell said the holistic treatment methods used at the facility are based on the Narconon program, introduced in a book written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

But commissioners decided the expansion would not fit in with the residential character of the neighborhood and that a substance abuse center does not conform to the original zoning category of the site, which was a congregate care facility.

Commissioner Rose Rocco said she was concerned when she rode by the center the other day and the entrance gate was wide open and people were "just sitting and doing whatever."

"Where was the security?" she asked.

Rocco also said she had "a little difficulty" when the purpose of the facility was changed from an original congregate care center for seniors.

Commissioner John Druzbick said he couldn't support the denial because it leaves the county open to other interpretations of the zoning code down the road.

"We're not against drug rehab in Hernando County," said Michael Burmann, who rallied neighbors in the Cessna area. "We just don't believe it belongs in a residential area like this."

Sandra DeConinck presented commissioners with a petition signed by 400 people who oppose putting 30 more beds in the center in the heart of a residential community.

DeConinck said she worries about children in the area who catch school buses near the treatment center.

But Shawn Jones, a former patient at Suncoast Rehabilitation Center, said neighbors have the wrong idea about the facility.

"The SRC, in my opinion, saved my life," Jones said. "I was not forced there. I paid a lot of money to be there and there is nothing unusual going on there.

Jones said he willingly gave up his confidentiality to speak out.

The center was formerly an assisted living facility for seniors, but the owner sold the property last year to the present owners who then turned it into a drug-alcohol rehab center.