Midway Rehabilitation Center, a company based out of Knoxville and under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, has expressed interest in purchasing a building in Greeneville for a Residential Re-Entry Center.
The informational item was brought up during the Greeneville Municipal Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday. If the planning commission approves a “Special Exception” rezoning request, the center would be located on Mount Pleasant Industrial Park and would be considered a Halfway House that houses both men and women, who are under supervision 24/7, and have a GPS tracking system.
The facility reportedly provides inpatient addiction recovery services for adults exiting the prison system and offer long-term residential care, court-mandated programming, community reintegration services, and aftercare planning and support. According to their website, their inpatient program allows clients that are exiting prison to cultivate their sobriety and develop independent living skills, while being in a structured and supportive environment.
Due to the existing potential location being in a High Impact Use zone district (M-2), which doesn’t allow residential use, rezoning the parcel to B-4 would solve that issue. But that brings up another issue, which is spot zoning.
In order to discuss the matter further a workshop was suggested for next week after the Greeneville City Council meeting. The session will include the Greeneville Municipal Planning Commission and City Council to discuss modifications to the zoning ordinance before moving forward.
