A group looking to expand a group recovery home in Framingham, Mass., has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that town officials and some local residents conspired to derail the plan, the Boston Globe reported Oct. 25.

The South Middlesex Opportunity Council claims that Framingham officials illegally manipulated local zoning laws while a group of residents waged a smear campaign to prevent the program's expansion. The Council charged that together the officials and residents engaged in a "coordinated effort" to rid the town of its disabled population, calling program residents "human waste" and the "dregs of society."

This is the third lawsuit filed against the town of Framingham during the past two years alleging violations of federal and state civil-rights of needy or sick residents.

Local residents and politicians said that they had acted legally and out of concern that Framingham had become a magnet for social-services programs. Town council member Steven Orr, who runs a community website where some defamatory statements about the recovering residents had appeared, called the lawsuit "completely, unbelievably unfair."

"There is no place in the state that has done more to help people with social service needs" than Framingham, he said.

The latest controversy revolves around Sage House, a residential treatment program. The Council wanted to double the capacity of the 16-year-old program by converting a former nursing home into a recovery home for up to 15 families. A group called Stop Tax Exempt Private Property Sprawl (STEPPS), led by a Town Council member, Peter C.S. Adams, called the project a "homeless drug rehab shelter" and launched a campaign against the expansion.

"It has never been our mission to rid the town of anyone disabled," Adams said. "The stated mission of STEPPS is to check the rate of growth of social services in Framingham."

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