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Council adopts rezoning changes that restrict locations for syringe-access and harm-reduction services
Summary
Ordinance 2025-28, amending business- and institutional-zone standards, passed 5-0; public health providers warned the changes would limit fixed-site harm-reduction and syringe-access programs and may conflict with state law.
The Vineland City Council on April 15 adopted Ordinance 2025-28, revising B-1, B-2, B-3 and IN-1 zone standards. The council voted 5-0 to adopt the ordinance and ordered the clerk to forward it to the mayor for approval or disapproval.
Ordinance 2025-28 amends sections 4-25-293 through 4-25-298 of the municipal code to change where mental-health outpatient facilities, substance-use treatment, nonprofit organizations and harm-reduction services may locate. Several public commenters, including legal counsel for a health center and staff from regional harm-reduction programs, said the rezoning would effectively limit syringe-access and full harm-reduction services to a narrow area of the city and could deny fixed-site access to people without reliable housing or transportation.
Inez Acosta, who identified herself as chief legal counsel for Complete Care Health Network, said the New Jersey Department of Health now licenses and regulates harm-reduction centers and that municipalities cannot nullify state health mandates. "By restricting syringe access to mobile programs, the ordinance denies fixed-site access to the very population most in need," Acosta told the council and urged reconsideration.
Rachel Campbell, who said she works at the Harm Reduction Center in Vineland, said the centers provide referrals to treatment, naloxone and testing in addition to sterile syringes and urged the council to reconsider the zoning changes. Other residents including Kirsten Ellis, Betsy Powell and Georgette Shelton also spoke against the changes, saying they would make services harder to reach and could harm public health.
Council members said the zoning work followed a consultant-led rewrite and multiple legal reviews; several members noted the master plan process could revisit the standards later this summer. The final roll-call vote recorded Doctor Arthur, Council member English, Council member Gomez, Council member Vargas and President Spinelli voting yes. The council adopted the ordinance and will submit it to the mayor.
