NEW BERLIN, Wis. — Plans to build an addiction recovery center in New Berlin can move forward after the project endured months of dispute in the community.
After keeping their decision secret for weeks, the city’s Board of Appeals rejected a zoning challenge to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission project on Monday. The 2-2 vote came after the board deliberated in closed session on June 2, but decided not to publicly announce their decision until today.
The group New Berlin Citizens United had appealed the city Plan Commission’s decision to categorize the recovery center as a church under zoning code. They argued it does not qualify as a church and requires different zoning, a process which would further delay the project from moving forward.
The drug and alcohol recovery facility will house more than 100 men at a time in a 57,000 square-foot building near I-43 and Moorland Road. Milwaukee Rescue Mission is still working to raise $12 million for the project.