Zoners to Hear More Drug Treatment Center Proposals

The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board has scheduled yet another hearing exclusively devoted to projects proposed by controversial developer Abraham Atiyeh, who is still trying to build substance abuse treatment centers in the city.

The applications under consideration would mean a treatment center in a new building at 2110 Center St. at the corner of Dewberry Avenue and the former Moose & Bug Flower Shop at 2349 Linden St.

The hearings have been scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the second-floor meeting room of the . Town Hall is unavailable because City Council is also scheduled to meet that night.

The Express-Times is reporting that these applications will be considered under the city’s old zoning law, not the new one that prohibits new substance abuse treatment centers within 500 feet of schools. The applications were submitted months before the new zoning ordinance was adopted.

The Center Street address is near , which had another proposal to turn the former Calvary Baptist Church into a 70-bed treatment center. The former Moose & Bug is near

The city administration and City Council plan to contest the plan before the Zoning Hearing Board, as they have with the developer’s previous proposals to build in-patient drug treatment centers.

Atiyeh had promised to drop these applications as he and the city came close to striking a deal that would have allowed him to build a treatment center in the former Synthetic Thread factory on 12th Avenue. However, talks broke down in August and Atiyeh decided to continue pursuing these two proposals.