Business owner plans to build inpatient substance abuse & mental health center in Stuart

STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — A local business owner is looking to help the ongoing drug and alcohol issues plaguing the Treasure Coast by converting a vacant senior assisted living facility into state of the art, inpatient substance abuse and mental health center in Stuart.

“There’s really none in the area. There’s not a quality in-patient mental health facility,” applicant Jason Ackner said during the City of Stuart Commission meeting Monday night.

The land located on 500 SE Indian Street is currently owned by CP Stuart Development LLC. Ackner, the CEO of Perseverance Recovery Center, hopes to revamp the former senior assisted living facility known as Clarity Pointe, to a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility with medical detox.

The city commission is currently reviewing whether to rezone the land to ultimately approve Ackner’s proposed plan. However, the applicant’s plan is raising some alarm bells from many residents because the lot is located near residential homes and schools, off S. Kanner Hwy.

“I hear a lot of people behind me, snickering, making comments. I don’t know how many people behind me lost loved ones or has seen this disease ravage families, ravage homes, neighborhoods. But I have seen the beauty of recovery,” Ackner said.

There’s a lot of misinformation out there, according to the application. Ackner said this won’t be a sober home, which is generally less structured. He said certified nurses, therapists and other medical experts would help around 126 people, not 140.

The Martin County sheriff William Snyder, who has been vocal opponent, also spoke at the meeting Monday evening.

“We are all advocates for treatment, but what we are not an advocate for is running 1,600 people from around the country, through our vulnerable county, which is taking away too fast as it is,” Martin County sheriff William Snyder said in front of Stuart leaders and residents. “If they fail out of the program, which they will, they’ll be in my jail, they’ll be in these people’s backyards, they’ll be on the streets.”

Many residents agreed with those statements.

“That’s not true,” Ackner said in response to sheriff’s comments. “The people that fly in are middle class to upper class affluent families. They’re not homeless people.”

The final vote of approval or denial would be at the next meeting on Tuesday, May 28.