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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The drug and alcohol treatment center proposed for a vacant warehouse on Hill Street sounded an awful lot like a prison to Charles McCormick, the attorney hearing zoning cases for the city. But for some who&#8217;ve gone through similar programs, it&#8217;s what&#8217;s necessary to give people the chance to get back their lives.</p><p>The city&#8217;s Zoning Hearing Board tabled a vote on the center and McCormick said its members would require time to review the information and testimony presented Wednesday night during a two-hour public meeting. At its meeting on June 21 the board will again take up the variance sought by Jim Casey to operate a 150-bed residential facility in the district zoned industrial.</p><p>McCormick, solicitor for the board, peppered Casey, his sons James and Shane and his attorney Mark McNealis with questions about details they provided on the center that would house up to 150 men who violated their state parole by using drugs and alcohol and would be required to undergo up to 90 days of treatment. The center would find jobs for the men and operate around the clock under strict guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and spelled out in the contract Casey executed with state.</p><p>There would be no walls or armed security officers. Up to two state parole officers would be on site, but they would have to secure their firearms while there. The parolees would only be allowed out to go to jobs coordinated through a temporary employment staffing agency.</p><p>&#8220;Why isn&#8217;t this anything different than a prison?&#8221; McCormick asked.</p><p>The difference is that it deals with parolees not prisoners, Casey explained.</p><p>He said there is a need for the services from drug and alcohol counseling to job training for parolees. In Luzerne County, there are 350 parolees and 2,000 in Northeastern Pennsylvania where there are no facilities to help them &#8220;re-enter society in a safe way,&#8221; Casey said.</p><p>He runs a half-way house on South Main Street a few blocks away from the center he&#8217;s proposed to provide services the state is turning to private contractors to provide as a less expensive alternative than returning the parole violators to prison.</p><p>&#8220;If they&#8217;re safe, then the community is safe,&#8221; he said of the restrictions to be imposed and the services offered.</p><p>An added benefit is the wages from the staff the center would employ and the paychecks the parolees would earn, Casey said. He estimated that at $400 a week the parolees could bring in $4 million to $5 million annually.</p><p>But Dino Galella pointed out the center would be too close to schools and churches and worried what it would do to the property values of houses in the neighborhood. He said he&#8217;s partial owner of the home of his elderly mother on Hill Street where it continues across Wilkes-Barre Boulevard.</p><p>&#8220;This kind of facility doesn&#8217;t belong in the inner city,&#8221; Galella said.</p><p>William Snyder was among the few who argued for it.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m an alcoholic,&#8221; said Snyder, of Gates Street. He added that he&#8217;s sober, has a job, apartment and was able to buy a used car.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a product of these kind of facilities,&#8221; Snyder said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board tabled a vote on proposal to convert a former Pepsi warehouse on Hill Street into a drug treatment and counseling center for men paroled from state prison. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Hill-St.-property-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board tabled a vote on proposal to convert a former Pepsi warehouse on Hill Street into a drug treatment and counseling center for men paroled from state prison. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Vulcan-Recovery.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Architect&#8217;s rendering of proposed privately run drug and alcohol treatment center in vacant warehouse on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Vulcan-Recovery.jpg</photo1><caption1>Architect&#8217;s rendering of proposed privately run drug and alcohol treatment center in vacant warehouse on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board tables vote on proposed treatment center