Tyler

By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

The Eastview Nursing Center plans to build a 50-bed facility at their Front Street location to house children in the custody of Child Protective Services.

On Tuesday, Tyler Planning and Zoning Commission members approved a site plan amendment that will allow construction to move forward. The facility will be at 2902 E. Front St.

Officials with the Willow Bend program, who will operate the facility, said the program is designed to provide education and treatment to boys ages 7-17 with behavioral and psychological issues who are in CPS custody. Willow Bend is a state-licensed program, officials said, and the facility will serve boys from throughout the state of Texas.

The program has a facility in Longview, but their attempts last year to relocate to a larger building were met with community uproar. Residents near the proposed location voiced their opposition at a number of Longview City Council meetings and eventually asked state officials to prevent the move, saying they were concerned the troubled youths might escape the facility and get into their neighborhoods. The state eventually rejected Willow Bend's application to relocate its program to the proposed Longview location.

Willow Bend officials said they hope to be in their new Tyler location by January 2009.

In other business, Planning and Zoning Commissioners: