Pubdate: Mon, 22 Mar 2004
Source: Bristol Herald Courier (VA)
Copyright: 2004 Bristol Herald Courier
Contact: http://www.bristolnews.com/contact.html
Website: http://www.bristolnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1211
Author: Chris Dumond

ZONING MAY RESTRICT MORE THAN JUST METHADONE CLINICS

ABINGDON - A little known provision in the methadone clinic zoning 
ordinance approved last week by Washington County officials has shocked 
some mental health providers.

It seems that the ordinance, which restricts drug treatment clinics from 
locating within a half-mile of a church, school, daycare center or 
residential district, or within 1,000 feet of a home, also applies to any 
mental health or mental retardation treatment center licensed by the state.

The ordinance requires that these facilities have a special exception 
permit and only allows them in industrial and certain business zones.

County Attorney Lucy Phillips said mental health services were included in 
the methadone clinic ordinance because those services have similar 
characteristics.

The restrictions were placed on methadone clinics after Appalachian 
Treatment Services of South Carolina tried to open a clinic on Old Dominion 
Road in the Lowry Hills community.

Residents there strongly opposed the clinic, saying it would bring crime, 
increased traffic and hurt property values.

Washington County is the only locality in the state with such zoning 
restrictions, according to Leslie Anderson of the Virginia Department of 
Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

That has mental-health advocates like psychologist Chris Qualls up in arms.

Qualls, the psychology department chairman at Emory & Henry College, said 
the new zoning law is unreasonable discrimination against mental-health 
patients.

"Would we do that to a cardiac rehabilitation facility? Of course we 
wouldn't," he said. "We see people with cardiac problems as being normal, 
when the fact is more people will suffer a major depressive episode this 
year than will have a heart attack."

He said those with mental illness or mental retardation are already 
stigmatized and the new ordinance will only make that worse.

Highlands Community Services is the main provider for state licensed 
treatment for mental health, mental retardation and substance abuse 
services in the county.

Highlands served 3,738 clients last year, 63 percent of whom were county 
residents.

Executive Director Hunter Widener said the provision in the methadone 
zoning ordinance blanketing all mental health facilities licensed by the 
state was not discussed with him.

"I was surprised to find it encompassed everything we do, basically," 
Widener said. "That is a major concern."

Although the provision does not affect existing sites, he said, it could 
restrict any service expansion.

He said the ordinance will further segregate people with mental illness 
problems from the rest of society.

The goal of many treatment programs is to help those with mental 
retardation or mental illness function in the community.

At Highlands Community Service's day-support house in Washington County, 
counselors work with the mentally retarded to teach daily living skills and 
community integration, Director of Community Support Services Rema McCue said.

"We teach them things like how to go shopping at Wal-Mart or how to act in 
a movie," McCue said.

Literally pushing those kinds of services to the fringes of society is 
counterproductive, Qualls said.

Anderson, who works in the licensing office of the Virginia Department of 
Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said the 
county's zoning code also applies to group homes for the mentally ill.

That restriction may run afoul of the federal Fair Housing Act, which 
outlaws housing discrimination based on disability, she said.

Phillips, the county attorney, said she does not expect problems with the 
zoning regulation, but noted that it could be changed at any time.

Widener said he has been in contact with County Administrator Mark Reeter 
about his concerns. He said county leaders have planned a review of the 
entire zoning ordinance this summer and he hopes the issue can be resolved 
then.

"We'll definitely be at the front of the line to get them to fix it," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman