ADDICT CLINIC FACES APPEAL

Methadone Centre Hit By Complaints

A drug-addiction clinic struggling to find a permanent home has hit
another roadblock, with three would-be neighbours filing appeals to
keep its doors closed.

Second Chance, a methadone clinic, received the OK from the city to
move into a strip mall in the Foothills Industrial Park, but the
appeals mean there will be a hearing at the end of the month before
the subdivision and development appeal board.

"I can't say I'm really surprised, more disappointed," said Hugh Ham,
the clinic's lawyer. "It doesn't seem to matter where we try and
locate this facility, it's objectionable to some people."

The clinic, which doesn't dispense methadone on-site but issues
prescriptions to patients, had to move from a northeast industrial
park last spring because it didn't fit the area's zoning
requirements. It then moved to a strip mall in Braeside, which
sparked a furious outcry from residents, although it operated in that
location without incident for a few months.

Ham had hoped they'd found an acceptable solution by moving the
clinic to an industrial area.

But three neighbours--two in the same strip mall--have raised
concerns about safety and how patients will get to the area.

"I have operated this business for six years without one incident
ever and am concerned about admitted drug addicts coming into my
store," Steve Hart, who runs the liquor shop next door, wrote in his
appeal. "All of my customers have shown negative reaction to the clinic."

Hart declined to comment when contacted by the Herald.

Doug Fletcher, who owns Keystone Graphics, said he has been in the
area for 12 years without a problem. "If suddenly we have some
incident, what to blame that on, what does human nature say?"

He is also concerned it's a poor location for the clinic, saying
public transit to the industrial park is poor.

Paul An, who owns the grocery store in the mall, is also opposed to
the clinic moving in.

Ham said the objections don't involve planning issues, and city rules
have made it increasingly difficult for social service agencies to
provide for their clients.

He added that the doctor previously occupying the Foothills space was
an addiction specialist who would have had similar patients.