that they were concerned about the safety of their children with a drug rehab center nearby. In their permit application, the Mordens clarified that they would accept patients willing to seek treatment but not those with a violent criminal record.
“There were some misconceptions about who would be admitted into the facility,” McBride said. “We wouldn’t take convicted drug dealers or anyone with a background involving sexual misconduct. There was also some concern that the residents would be free to come and go and roam the neighborhood. That is not the case. It’s a supervised facility. The residents can drop out of the program but they are not free to roam the streets.”
The application also noted that the home the Mordens proposed to buy to serve as the drug rehab’s location, will essentially be unchanged. McBride corroborated this point.
“We also emphasized that [the facility would] not change the character of the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s still going to be a single-family residence. There are no structural changes to the building.”
The council decided to delay a verdict on whether to approve the permit to allow for further deliberation.
If approved, Moonlight Recovery Center would be located along Moonlight Mine Road on a six-acre parcel of land with a large parking lot. It would potentially have room for up to 14 drug rehab patients and will employ two to four staff members around the clock to supervise patients.
Author: Sean Woodard
Sean Woodard is a journalist for Addiction Now and serves on the Film Department for Drunk Monkeys Literary Magazine and Film Blog. Focusing on a wide variety of interests, Sean’s fiction, film criticism, and other writing have been featured in Los Angeles Review of Books, Found Polaroids, and Los Angeles Magazine, among other publications. A native of Visalia, CA, he now resides in Orange County. Contact Sean at seanw@addictionnow.com
