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.