LOMPOC COUNCIL HEARS HOURS OF DETOX SITE INPUT

Members of the Lompoc City Council Tuesday night heard both opponents
and proponents of a plan to place a drug detox center in the 600
block of West Ocean Avenue, but because of the high volume of input
from the public, no decision on the project had been made as of
presstime Tuesday night.

At 10:30 p.m., at least 10 more people were waiting to address the
council, and it was not clear that the councilmembers would even vote
Tuesday night.

The crowd packed the council chambers, and had spilled over into the
lobby of City Hall.

The center, proposed by Good Samaritan Shelter Inc. of Santa Maria,
would provide perinatal services to 16 women in recovery, and include
a separate co-ed detox building with six beds. The program would be
residential, and the residents would be monitored around the clock
for substance abuse of any kind, including regular drug testing.

Opponents say they are simply against the proposed location, and not
the existence of a treatment center in Lompoc. They said the new
project would decrease property values in the vicinity of 608 West
Ocean Avenue, where an old flower shop would be refurbished into the
detox center. Opponents fear a detox center, and a possible decrease
in surrounding property values, would hinder a major effort to
renovate and revitalize businesses in the downtown area.

Supporters of the plan have cited research showing that treatment
centers are good neighbors, and follow regulations to the line.

Lompoc resident Alice Milligan, a lead opponent, opened her Tuesday
statements by calling on Mayor Dick DeWees to step down from voting
on the center. She said that DeWees, as a member of the Lompoc
Recovery Task Force, was involved in selecting the 608 West Ocean
location, currently home to the Avenue Flower Shop.

DeWees replied that he was not involved in the search for the
location, and City Attorney Sharon Stuart stated that no impropriety
existed with DeWees joining three other council members to vote as
part of council on the issue. Council woman Ann Ruhge, who approved
the project in November as a member of the planning commission,
recused herself from the vote.

In addition, center opponents said, the new center would increase
traffic to the area, wouldn't be appropriate in an area near Lompoc
Valley Middle School and would put an added impact on already
strained public safety agencies in Lompoc.

Opponents also cited the amount of public safety calls from the Good
Samaritan Center in Santa Maria last year at the city council meeting.

Good Samaritan Executive Director Sylvia Barnard responded to
concerns over property values by presenting how existing detox
centers in Santa Maria have failed to decrease property values in the
areas of that city. She also responded to concerns from neighborhood
residents near the proposed Lompoc location.

"Will we be good neighbors?" she said before citing a quote from the
Institute for Public Health Strategies. "Those who live next to
existing treatment programs consistently say program residents are
great neighbors to have. It's only logical because those residents
are the only people on the block who by regulation have to be good neighbors."