Zoners Uphold Denial of Pharmaceutical Recycling

Plainfield's Restaurant Row is no place for a firm that receives expired pharmaceutical samples from physicians for return to manufacturers, the Zoning Board decided Wednesday.

EMES Pharmacy LLC sought an appeal of Zoning Officer Bill Nierstedt decision that locating the business in South Avenue's "neighborhood commercial" zone was improper. The board spent some time discussing where such a business might fit in, settling on a "light industrial" zone as most likely.

The applicant, named only as Sham, was not present to explain the business, but commercial property manager Teresa Clark said it involved accepting sample medicines from physicians, documenting them and returning them to manufacturers. Clark said pharmaceutical recycling has "grown exponentially" as a new business and that the applicant sought approval as an office use. The location at 1405-79 South Avenue would be in a rear portion of a 6,000-square-foot space that was being divided into three 2000-square-feet segments. The recycling operation would have four employees.

Nierstedt called the operation "a use I am not familiar with" and said he followed the zoning maxim, "when in doubt, deny."

Board members agreed the use did not fit definitions for office or retail operations. Board member Mary Burgwinkle read from a 2011 article on "reverse distribution" that mentioned the danger of possible diversion of the pharmaceuticals. She said she did not see it as office use.

"I see it as medical waste," she said.

Board member Charles McRae named several nearby restaurants and deplored having expired drugs in proximity.

"The whole area is food," he said.

But board member Jim Spear looked more favorably on the nonconforming use, noting past approval of a business that he said has "explosives." He was referring to the Zoning Board's 2011 approval of a research lab on South Avenue where small amounts of explosives including TNT, nitroglycerin and dynamite are kept. He called the pharmaceutical recycling application "ambiguous enough" that he might allow it.

Although Clark explained the application, board members said they wanted to hear from the business owner himself.

In the end, the board upheld Nierstedt's decision, with Robert Graham, Rich Sudol, Burgwinkle and McRae  voting "yes." Spear first voted "yes" with some hesitation, but after Chairman D. Scott Belin abstained, Spear changed his vote to "no."

Belin suggested to Clark that the applicant might seek a variance. Clark said she would call Nierstedt's office today (Thursday) and would try to have Sham on the phone as well to discuss the matter.

--Bernice