DRUG TREATMENT HOSPITAL RILES NEIGHBORS

Dr. Ira Weiner moved into Fort Lauderdale's Colee Hammock neighborhood six
years ago, hoping to enjoy the lushly landscaped, tree-canopied, quiet area
off trendy Las Olas Boulevard.

But Weiner now finds himself living uncomfortably close to a clinic where
people yell, smoke, play basketball, and run loud trash compressors at all
hours of the day and night.

Several residents have complained to the city about Fort Lauderdale
Hospital, a five-story drug and alcohol treatment facility at 1601 E. Las
Olas Blvd.

Its presence predates Weiner in the neighborhood. But the facility recently
expanded, constructing a smoking area and basketball court behind two sets
of high fences on either side of the clinic's rear.

The clinic backs up into the residential neighborhood.

Recently, neighbors and city officials found an open package of hypodermic
needles behind the clinic, although it was not known who placed them there.

Hospital officials did not return telephone calls from The Herald.

The city is cracking down on code violations stemming from the clinic's
expansion.

Both the smoking and basketball areas cut into an alley that doubles as a
parking area behind the hospital, improperly reducing the clinic's
available parking space, according to a letter from the city.

The alleyway -- along with landscaping and some fences erected by neighbors
- -- is the only noise buffer between the clinic and people living nearby.

While residents are unhappy about cars squeezed up against their property,
they are more annoyed by the rowdiness and smoke generated by the two
recreational areas.

``Colee Hammock is a special place, and is an environment where its
inhabitants retain a sense of neighborhood,'' Weiner, an Aventura eye
doctor, wrote to the city. ``The people who live there enjoy a feeling of
Florida as it once was. And then there is a hospital. Shouting and
screaming can be heard at various times during the day, affecting the peace
and tranquillity of the surrounding area.''

Weiner wants the city to eliminate the smoking and basketball areas,
outline the rules for trash collection and use of trash compactors, and
eliminate the negative impact from cars abutting the neighborhood.

`The hospital's lack of regard for its neighborhood is a threat to the
quality of life to those people who live there,'' Weiner said.

Mayor Jim Naugle, who has heard a rising number of complaints about the
clinic in the past month, agreed that there is a problem.

``I think the neighbors have a legitimate gripe,'' Naugle said, adding of
the hospital: ``They either need to be good neighbors or they need to
relocate the program elsewhere.''

The city has set up a hearing next month on the clinic's code violations.

If a special master at the hearing determines there are code violations, he
or she may impose a fine of up to $250 per day on the hospital until the
problems are fixed.