HELPING ADDICTS GET CLEAN IN METHADONE CLINICS IS TOUGH AT THE BEST
OF TIMES BUT HARDER STILL WITH NIMBY BACKLASH

Cue the outrage, the community meetings and the angry calls to city
hall.

Act Two, as always, will be the accusations.

Residents of Braeside and Cedarbrae are only upset because they are
selfish, clinging to a Not-In-My-Backyard mentality, rather than
embracing those who most need society's support.

Of course, those reading the script of sanctimony will live nowhere
near the Braecentre strip mall, nor will they have children going to
school nearby.

If they did, the idea of 500 addicts attending a methadone clinic
metres away from homes and playgrounds would outrage them too -- and
they, in turn, would be condemned as NIMBYs.

So goes the cyclical drama of trying to locate an undesirable business
in a city where it's every alderman for himself, and where shelters
and rehab centres struggle for a place to stay open.

In this case, it's the Second Chance Recovery Centre, a methodone
clinic forced to close its current location in a northeast industrial
park due to zoning rules.

Medical clinics aren't allowed in the Greenview industrial area, and
the clinic, one of two in Calgary, can't afford the $130,000 rezoning
fee demanded by the city.

The city wasn't willing to waive the fee to keep the clinic in a
non-residential area.

And so, Second Chance needs a new home, but attempts to move have so
far been blocked by nervous landlords and neighbours.

A location in Forest Lawn looked promising, but fell through after
residents, businesses and the area alderman complained.

Now, a vacant medical clinic in a strip mall located at Braeside Dr.
and 24 St. S.W. looks ideal -- unless, of course, you live nearby.

Dr. Ian Postnikoff, who runs the clinic, said he's wary of even
talking about the possibility of moving to the mall, which is on the
edge of Braeside and Cedarbrae, in a mainly residential area.

"We're negotiating to sub-let the lease," admits Postnikoff.

He says patients will likely have to take a C-Train and bus to reach
the relatively far-flung location, but at this point, he'll be happy
to call anywhere home.

"Being in an ideal location doesn't matter, when being in any location
is what we need."

The strip mall, in some ways, is ideal -- a community police station
is located steps away from the proposed clinic, and the area is served
by a busy bus route.

On the other hand, condominiums and homes surround the site, along
with soccer fields and family-run businesses.

Officials with the Braeside Community Association, having only just
learned of the clinic's intention, are looking to organize an
emergency meeting of the association board.

Association president Kim Edwards said she personally isn't opposed to
the clinic, but she can't speak for residents who live near the former
walk-in medical clinic.

"I have to speak first to the board and get their feedback -- speaking
for an entire community is very difficult," said Edwards.

"I think the clinic offers a good service and if it's successful in
rehab, then great, but then I'm living far enough from that mall that
it may not affect me or my home.

"We need to speak to residents in that area."

Braeside, if it embraces the clinic, would be unique among Calgary
communities.

Be it a homeless shelter, halfway house, or drug-rehabilitation
centre, the script calls for outrage from the community and opposition
from the alderman.

Brian Pincott, who represents Ward 11 on city council, couldn't be
reached.

But Ald. Bob Hawkesworth, who helped remove Second Chance from its old
location over zoning violations, expressed sympathy for Braeside.

Normally the social conscience of city council, Hawkesworth said
methadone clinics and the addicts who use them are difficult for any
community to accept, because they are too busy.

Hawkesworth said methadone is an essential service, but forcing every
addict into just two Calgary clinics creates too high a concentration
of clients.

"Maybe Alberta Health Services could make this available in every
health care facility in the city, in which case you don't just have it
in one residential area," said Hawkesworth.

"If it's dispersed all over the city, you don't have it concentrated
in one location."