Residents voice their concerns about drug rehab center

Some local residents say they’re concerned about a drug rehabilitation center that is now operating in the “Olde Town Marion” neighborhood at the intersection of St. James and S. Vine streets.

First Step Recovery Center opened the in-patient drug rehabilitation facility on Jan. 31 at 245 St. James St. in Marion, according to Clinical Supervisor Thomas Gogolin. He noted that First Step has been operating an out-patient facility in Marion since 2016 on Crescent Heights Road on the city’s south end.

“The facility at St. James is a partial hospitalization facility where we treat clients with substance abuse problems,” Gogolin explained. “We give them an environment to work on their sobriety and treatment and help improve their lives. The clients we have there are all adults, over 18, and they’re engaged in intensive treatment. This is a 10-week intensive program. The goal of this facility is to get our clients back to normal functioning.

“Obviously, somewhere along the line, their substance abuse has affected them to the point where they’re not equipped to live independently. Our goal is to break away barriers and stigma that the public has to assist them in becoming independent again and back to normal functioning.”

Residents from the surrounding neighborhood voiced their concerns to Marion City Council during the March 14 regular council meeting. South Vine Street resident David P. Danko, who has lived in the neighborhood for 37 years, was one of several residents who addressed council.

Danko, who lives next door to the St. James St. property, read from a prepared statement that he distributed to residents of the neighborhood around the First Step Recovery Center.

“It has come to our attention that the property (245 St. James St.) was purchased for the purpose of housing a drug rehabilitation service for addicts,” Danko said. “Although we realize there is a need for such facilities, we have some serious concerns with this facility being in a residential neighborhood — Olde Town Marion. There are many small children and elderly folks residing in this neighborhood who may not be able to defend themselves should any of these folks decide to relapse into their previous addiction and perhaps maybe irrational behavior.

“It is our understanding that these addicts are being relocated here from other cities — Columbus, Mansfield — and they are permitted to have free time between 6 p.m. and 12 (a.m.),” he added. “There have been reports about various things, looking in windows and unacceptable things . ... I object to the business that’s there now and to the people that are there now.”

Danko told the city council members that he hoped there could be “a discussion, either pro or con, about the zoning of this house.”

The property at 245 St. James St. is zoned Residential 2 (R2), according to Malcom Smith of the city’s zoning office, which is the classification for a General Dwelling District. Per the Marion City Code (Part 11, Title Seven, Chapter 1137), the R2 designation allows for a broad range of uses for the property, including, but not limited to, “hospitals and sanitariums;” “convalescent homes, rest homes, homes for the aged;” and “business, professional and industrial offices.”

Danko noted that the property at 245 St. James St. previously housed a bed and breakfast and later a medical-related business. According to the Marion County Auditor’s website, Steven L. and Marsha Adams owned the property from 1996 until they sold it to its current owner, Thomas P. Donev of New Albany, on Dec. 6, 2021.

Clients at the First Step Recovery Center in Marion are not allowed to leave the facility during the 10-week treatment program and are monitored by rehab center staff members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Gogolin said. He also noted that surveillance cameras monitor the interior and exterior of the facility. The backyard of the property is enclosed with a chain-link fence.

“Clients are almost always inside the house or just inside the fenced-in area or within the property lines,” he said. “The only time these clients are leaving the property is if they have an appointment, such as doctor, dentist, court appointment, things of that nature; and they’re escorted by staff members. The clients are never off the property from (the Marion) location without staff.”

Gogolin said clients treated at the St. James St. facility are referred there by a number of sources, including the court system, family members, and physicians. He said some clients check themselves in for treatment.

Marion Police Chief Jay Mcdonald provided the Star with a listing of 911 calls from the neighborhood around 245 St. James St. for the period of Jan. 31 through March 15. According to the information Mcdonald provided, there were six emergency squad calls to residences on St. James St. during that span of time, five of which were in reference to one individual at the rehab center who was suffering from blood sugar issues.

There was no evidence that any of the calls for alleged criminal activity or suspicious activity involved clients being treated at the rehab center.

Marion City Council member Karen Fosnaugh, 5th Ward, is hosting a neighborhood public meeting about the rehab center at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6 at Gethsemane Lutheran Church. The meeting will be held in the church basement.

Fosnaugh said in a Facebook post announcing the meeting that officials from First Step Recovery Center will be in attendance and that residents of the “Olde Town Marion” neighborhood are invited and will be given the chance to ask questions and make suggestions.

Gogolin said he and other representatives from First Step plan to attend the meeting and want to maintain an open line of communication with the community.

“I plan to meet with Karen even before that meeting to allow her an opportunity to see what we’re doing at St. James, and then also going forward, be able to see how the facility is operated so there’s some awareness and context to that facility,” Gogolin said. “I think a lot of the trepidation that citizens are having is because there’s just a lot of fear and unknown components.”

First Step Recovery Center has facilities in Columbus, Delaware, Lancaster, and Reynoldsburg.