Recovery Center Gets Bed Count Approval

On a site walk late last year, members of the public listen to project engineer Wade Lippert.

Photo: Tammy Wells

By: Tammy Wells, York County media specialist

The Alfred Planning Board’s recent approval of a higher bed count than allowed by town ordinance allows the proposed York County Substance Use Recovery Center to move on in the town review process.

The board approved a total of 58 beds – 50 treatment beds and eight observation beds – which is nearly twice as many as the 30-bed limit set in the 2019 ordinance.

The county’s application for the recovery center must still comply with other relevant criteria, according to the planning board vote. Those matters will be addressed by the board at a later scheduled meeting, following a review of the application by an independent third party.

York County received about $40 million from American Recovery Plan Act and has pledged funding for the recovery center, a first responder training center and for some area endeavors like a teen center in Biddeford, a regional dredge, and housing- related initiatives with Sanford Housing Authority and in Southern York County.