Editorial: A mental health clinic has to go somewhere

In a perfect world, our homes would have picket fences and pristine lawns. They would be in safe residential neighborhoods but just a short sidewalked stroll from a grocery store, a library and a good school. A garbage dump wouldn’t be anywhere near, nor would train tracks or the airport. The hospital with blaring ambulance sirens would be out of hearing distance.

The problem with a perfect world is it leaves no room for messy, imperfect lives. You know, the kind of lives we all lead.

The New Kensington Council has put off voting on Southwest Behavioral Care, an affiliate of Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services, moving from the current location at 408 Eighth St. to an office building at 400 Industrial Blvd., about half a mile away.

The move would require conditional-use approval because of general industrial zoning for the office building, which is near residential areas. The planning commission recommended approval if the facility only provides the same mental health services it already has been providing.

The delay comes because of three residents who raised issues at the council meeting, although no one brought up anything at the public hearing on the issue.

Residents have every right to have questions about things that will affect their homes and lives and kids. They can and should bring those concerns to their officials. It is an important part of holding government and other organizations accountable.

But it is also important to weigh benefits and needs against the risks and detriments.

Mental health care is something that too long has been ranked low on the list of medical must-haves. It is necessary and all too often hard to find in a timely and accessible manner.

And that was before a global pandemic that has created its own stresses and anxieties and a lot more people who might have mental health needs.

Council members are not wrong to answer those questions and hear those concerns. They should, however, remember that “not in my backyard” has been the cry that has delayed or prevented many a necessary public service.

“Maybe there is another place we can find them in New Kensington,” said Councilman Todd Mentecki, a firefighter whose department has been a neighbor to the existing location and hasn’t seen any problems.

That would be great, in a perfect world. But in a perfect world, we wouldn’t need mental health care at all.