Winterson Weighs In On Sober House

Ward 5 New Bedford City Councilor Kerry Winterson is weighing in on plans for 49 Hawthorn St. also known as the "Sober House."

Winterson spoke with WBSMs Brian Thomas on Monday saying developer Steven Sheldon's proposal of a house for sober people doesn't meet the zoning requirements for that area.

"Residential A is for single family residents who live in a certain and basically that pretty much sums it up it's a Residential A area," said Winterson.

Winterson also criticized the lack of support services that will be available for the residents.

"He's not going to have anybody there for behavioral counseling, drug counseling, etc.," said Winterson "he's going to have nothing at all, there's no service that are going to be there at all."

Winterson also told wbsm's brian thomas that owner steven sheldon is using false claims of discrimination to accomplish his profit driven objectives.

"He's looking at discrimination, that these people will be discriminated against if he doesn't get the proposal that he's looking to have," said Winterson "from what I'm gathering and what information I'm getting is, he's basically looking to have a rooming house, but he's not going to define it as that, he's going to define it as a 'sober house'."

Sheldon will be holding a movie screening of "The Faces of Addiction" at the Main Library Meeting Room at 5 p.m. Tuesday followed by an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Ashley Room of City Hall.