As a contentious zoning hearing got under way last week, an official for a drug and alcohol treatment center said his nonprofit corporation might have bigger plans for their Ephrata Township facility than many community members recognized.

Teen Challenge Training Center started making the case for a 24-bed induction center at 309 Colonial Drive during a hearing Nov. 17. The company is seeking a special exception to convert the building — in the heart of a neighborhood — into a residential treatment center for adult men.

Although the application includes mention of 12 "emergency beds," the hearing was the first time officials acknowledged publicly that there is a "possibility" that they would eventually establish a crisis center at the Ephrata location.

Joe Batluck, executive director of the corporation's Rehrersburg center, spoke about Teen Challenge's faith-based mission and the need to move its induction center to Ephrata. Teen Challenge operates 10 centers in Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina. Most of its patients are men, who begin the program in the four-month induction phase and then move to Rehrersburg to complete eight months of job training and continued rehabilitation.

The corporation runs a crisis center in Harrisburg. William Cluck, an attorney for resident Ed Pohl, questioned whether there were different standards for emergency beds in a crisis center and an induction center. The emergency facility does not require a state license from the Department of Health, but Batluck said the Ephrata induction center would need a license. Patients could stay in the crisis center while awaiting access to the yearlong rehabilitation program.

"We found that men need a place to get off the street when they are in crisis," Batluck said of the Harrisburg facility, adding that crisis-center residents must meet the same criteria as long-term residents before acceptance. "There's no purpose in bringing a man in if he can't go to the induction center."

Batluck could not say how the information about criminal histories that potential residents give is verified; he said a future witness would testify about that issue.

The zoning hearing board gave party status to 13 residents who live near the property, allowing them to cross examine Teen Challenge's witnesses and challenge any decision made by the township.

Akron Borough, which owns a park next to the site, also is a party to the case. Batluck was the only witness for Teen Challenge during the three-hour hearing, as most of the parties questioned the corporation's track record and its exact plans for the Ephrata site. The hearing was continued until Dec. 15.

While Cluck questioned everything from Batluck's credentials to Teen Challenge's policies on public assistance, many of the residents remained focused on safety concerns.

Batluck said 40 percent of students drop out the Teen Challenge program before moving to Rehrersburg for the second phase of rehab. Others who are in the program will be allowed outside on the non-secured grounds.

"How can you be certain they won't leave the premises?" asked Brian Boyer of Edgehill Road.

"It isn't guaranteed, of course not. Nothing is guaranteed," responded Batluck, who has said in previous community meetings and interviews that his facilities rarely need police assistance.

But the main location in Rehrersburg has been the scene of at least two violent crimes, according to a Berks County police official.

After the hearing, Tulpehocken Township Police Chief Kris Kerschner, whose part-time force has jurisdiction over the Rehrersburg center, said he charged a resident there with rape "eight to 10 years ago," while another resident stole a car and tried to run down the chief in 2007. Kerschner fired his gun to defend himself, and the suspect was apprehended after resisting officers.

Kerschner, however, said officers generally respond to calls "once or twice a year" to escort a patient off the grounds and to a bus stop. He said the crime rate is not significant considering that hundreds of residents may live there at a time.

"It's not a violent place," Kerschner said. "Two incidents in 12 years is not a bad record."

Batluck hoped to reassure residents by sharing results from a center in Rochester, N.Y., that initially was opposed by residents in the area. The center was granted conditional approval by a judge; after a year, it was allowed to continue operating with neighbors' support.

The hearing will resume at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 265 Akron Road, Ephrata.