Pubdate: Fri, 06 Aug 2004 Source: Valley News, The (White River Junction, VT) Copyright: 2004 The Valley News Contact: http://www.vnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2423 Author: Sonia Scherr Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) METHADONE CLINIC SET TO OPEN Lebanon -- Habit Management plans to open its West Lebanon methadone clinic next month, despite another challenge from three neighbors trying to stop it from locating off Route 12A. The clinic is expected to open in mid-to late September, said Richard Keefe, Habit Management's vice president and in-house lawyer. The Massachusetts-based company has begun advertising for employees and interviewing candidates, he said. The clinic will have up to seven staff members: a program director, two nurses, a counselor, a counseling director and two office and support staff. It initially expects to have 30 patients, with the number increasing to around 70 after a year. The clinic would distribute liquid methadone to treat heroin addiction and provide extensive counseling to patients. Habit Management has finished renovating its Interchange Drive building -- which used to house the Phone Mart -- and has been licensed by the state of New Hampshire, Keefe said. Officials expect to receive approval within the next week or two from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which regulates the areas where methadone is stored. The company also has applied to the city of Lebanon for a certificate of occupancy for its facility. Carmela Hennessy, Lebanon's director of codes enforcement, said she is verifying the company's state license before granting the certificate. The center will be open from about 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and from 6 a.m. to 9:30 or 10 a.m. on weekends, Keefe said. (The hours are longer during the week to allow time for counseling.) Patients will come to the clinic by appointment to receive methadone under close supervision. But Habit Management faces a new challenge from three neighboring businesses - -- Brown Furniture, Beverage King and New England School of Hair Design -- that plan a court appeal of the city's decision to grant Habit Management a zoning permit, said Peter Decato, a Lebanon lawyer representing the three businesses. The neighbors filed a request Wednesday -- the final day of a 30-day appeal period -- for a rehearing before the Lebanon Zoning Board of Adjustment, which last month upheld Hennessy's decision to grant Habit Management a zoning permit. State law requires the neighbors to request the rehearing before they can go to court. The zoning board will decide at its Aug. 16 meeting whether to reconsider its decision, Hennessy said. If it denies the request, then the neighbors would be free to go to Grafton County Superior Court. The city wouldn't prevent Habit Management from opening during the appeal process since a decision has already been made, Hennessy said. As they did during their first appearance before the zoning board, the neighbors are contending that a methadone clinic is not an "office" as defined in the Lebanon zoning ordinance and doesn't belong in a district zoned for general commercial uses, according to documents filed at City Hall. "We think it's a clinic," said Gary Trottier, owner of New England School of Hair Design. "It has a very unique medical function and clearly isn't an office." The neighbors also are arguing that the clinic cannot locate near New England School of Hair Design in a drug-free school zone, because it would attract drug users to the zone. "A methadone clinic clearly shouldn't be operating in a drug-free school zone," Trottier said. "That's pretty clear to us." Barry Schuster, the Lebanon lawyer representing Habit Management, has said that similar social service agencies have offices in West Lebanon, including Care Net Pregnancy Center and a Planned Parenthood Health Clinic. He's also said that a drug-free school zone doesn't apply to legal drugs. Schuster said this week that the neighbors have the right to appeal. Nonetheless, he said, "We are very confident that the law permits the office, and we're disappointed that the neighbors feel this is necessary, but we look forward to working with them so all their concerns are alleviated." - --- MAP posted-by: Josh