BMZA approves Bright Star Wellness clinic with conditions after contentious Pig Town hearing

A Baltimore zoning board approved a conditional-use appeal on July 1 allowing Bright Star Wellness to operate an outpatient behavioral health clinic at 772 Washington Boulevard in the Washington Village/Pig Town area, with conditions on hours, security and onsite operations.

The decision follows several hours of testimony from the applicant, licensing and accreditation experts, city planners and more than a dozen neighbors and business owners who said the block has already absorbed many behavioral-health providers and that more services could worsen public-safety and quality-of-life problems.

Christopher DeCarlo, the applicant’s attorney, told the board the clinic would be “low intensity” and operate 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., serving about "25 to 30 people a day." He said Bright Star is CARF-accredited for outpatient mental-health and some substance-use programming and has agreed to conditions including no on-site dispensing of medication, perimeter security cameras and limited hours. Justin Walker of the Department of Planning said the department had “no objection to the appeal” if the agreed conditions are enforced.

Supp…