Baldwin Township residents packed the meeting room of the township commissioners Tuesday evening, ready to give them earfuls of opposition to the Mercy Behavioral Health residential facility that is being proposed for their neighborhood.

But they were told by township solicitor Thomas McDermott they would have to hold their comments until at least Oct. 27 when the township planning commission will discuss the plan at a public meeting at 7 p.m.

"Certainly the board sees you all and will take your comments, but not tonight," Mr. McDermott told the standing-room-only crowd that spilled into the stairway outside of the meeting.

Mr. McDermott confirmed for the crowd that Mercy filed an application with the township on Sept. 19 to use the former Rolling Hills Manor Assisted Living Center on Newport Drive as an in-patient mental health facility.

Mercy officials have said they want to operate two programs out of the facility, a long-term structured residence program and an extended acute-care program. Each would house 16 patients.

The acute care program would house patients for up to six months. The long-term program would serve patients with serious mental illnesses who will live there for extended periods as part of their therapy.

Mr. McDermott said Mercy Behavioral Health has signed a sales agreement on the property, but the sale is contingent upon Mercy getting the necessary approvals from the township.

The property is zoned R-1 residential and for Mercy to use the building as a residential mental health facility, the commissioners will have to approve that as a conditional use.

Mr. McDermott explained to the crowd that the township commissioners cannot discuss or take comment on the issue because they will have to serve in a "quasi-judicial function" when they vote on whether or not to approve the conditional use.

He said township officials must follow the appropriate procedures for public meetings and public hearings and give equal time to both the applicants and the residents.

The solicitor said the appropriate time for residents to offer their opinions about the facility will be at the planning commission's public meeting on Oct. 27 and at the commissioner's public hearing on the application, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17.

The planning commission will make a recommendation on the application to the commissioners, who will make the ultimate decision. That vote must take place within 45 days of the public hearing.

A location for planning commission meeting and public hearing was not announced at Tuesday's meeting because township officials are hoping to find a larger meeting place than the regular meeting chambers in order to accommodate what is expected to be a large crowd.

Mr. McDermott said if the commissioners allowed residents to comment at Tuesday's meeting, that action could be considered "tainting the process" and that could be used in any arguments the applicants make if their request is turned down and they appeal to Common Pleas Court.

Despite the solicitor's comments, some in the crowd couldn't resist shouting out their opposition to the center.

"I assume that you see all of these people here and you know that we don't want this," said one angry man before he walked out of the meeting.

Some residents shouted their frustrations over the commissioners refusal in recent weeks to answer questions about the Mercy application or even acknowledge that it had been made.

Residents said they were annoyed that they had to hear through word of mouth about the proposed facility.

Mr. McDermott said Mercy Behavioral Health submitted its application to the township on Sept. 19, but earlier had invited 60 residents of the community to an informational meeting held on Sept. 18.

Word of the project made its way through the community after the invitations were sent out, but before the official application was made to the township, he said.

The solicitor repeated that the commissioners are under constraints when it comes to speaking about or listening to comments on the proposal.

Mr. McDermott told the crowd that Mercy has reached out to him to discuss the possibility of making a contribution to the community in lieu of taxes.

Earlier Tuesday evening, during an informational meeting at the former Rolling Hills center, residents expressed concerned to Mercy officials about the drain they believed the proposed facility would put on municipal services, particularly the small police department.

Rolling Hills Manor Assisted Living Center was a for-profit entity that paid taxes.

At the Mercy informational meeting Tuesday, Mercy officials tried to assure residents that the facility would be locked down and secure and that there would be cameras throughout monitoring the residents. They also said the facility would be staffed 24 hours a day.

The Mercy officials also said the patients will not include sexual offenders, but rather people diagnosed with depression or schizophrenia. Admissions will be scheduled and will occur during the day and patients will come from hospitals or other programs. There will be no crisis admissions, the officials said.

Mercy Behavioral Health is also interested in having people from the community sit on an advisory board for the center.

Advocating on behalf of the Mercy center was Joan Erney, deputy secretary for the state Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Ms. Erney told the crowd that the center would serve "your friends and family."

She said a similar center -- the Northwest Human Services Non-Hospital Extended Acute Care Program in York -- operates without any problems in a residential community very similar to Baldwin Township.

She encouraged township residents to research the York center.

The Mercy meeting started at 6:30 p.m. and most of the Baldwin Township residents left it in time to be at the commissioner's meeting, which started at 7:30 p.m.