METHADONE CLINIC WILL STAY

Oshawa Loses Appeal, City's Price Tag In Fight Nears $400,000

OSHAWA-- The City has lost another battle against a downtown methadone clinic.

The Ontario divisional court has denied Oshawa council's appeal of the
Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decision, which lifted the City's interim
control bylaw and allowed First Step Clinic to move to Simcoe Street, just
north of Athol Street.

The court ruled Thursday the OMB had acted within its jurisdiction by
deciding in August 2002 there was "no planning rationale" behind the
interim control bylaw.

"This court is not empowered to usurp the board's legitimate policy-making
function by substituting its opinion for that of the board," the judge
tribunal said in its six-page decision.

First Step Clinic president Fred Lorusso said the fact the judges' decision
was unanimous and was delivered the day after the appeal was heard,
confirms his position.

"I always thought the issues at hand were blown out of proportion," he
said. "The interim control bylaw was passed based on fear mongering, not
truth."

The City and First Step Medical Clinic have been at odds since the clinic,
which dispenses methadone, made plans to move from its King Street
location, just outside the downtown core, to a larger location on Simcoe
Street, in the heart of downtown.

Methadone is an opiate that does not produce a high, but is used to wean
patients off painkillers and such narcotics as heroine and morphine. City
councillors complained the clinic would bring a bad element to downtown and
passed the interim control bylaw to prevent its move.

First Step appealed the bylaw and it was struck down by the OMB. The clinic
opened in November 2002 but the City continued its efforts to appeal the
OMB decision.

It's estimated the fight has cost the City close to $400,000 when factoring
in staff time, OMB costs and a $60,000 consultant study looking at
methadone clinics in other communities.

Thursday's decision awarded $15,000 to the clinic in legal fees for the
appeal. First Step is also seeking compensation for its OMB costs, which
Mr. Lorusso estimates at around $200,000.

Enough is enough, said Ward 3 Regional Councillor Nester Pidwerbecki.

"I said from Day 1 we're going to lose. I'm not prepared to support
spending anymore taxpayers' dollars," he said. "It's time to sit down with
the (clinic). Obviously, it's here to stay."

Mayor John Gray called this week's decision "disappointing" but hoped the
City could work to "mitigate any negative impacts and move forward".

"I don't think people wanted to quit on the downtown and accept this use,"
he said. "But hindsight is 20/20. If the zoning was tighter we wouldn't
have had to get into any of this."

Still trying to get details about this week's decision from the City's
lawyers, the mayor said, "If it's clear cut we don't have a leg to stand
on, I don't want to spend any more money."

Wards 5 and 6 Councillor Louise Parkes, who led much of the opposition
against the clinic, called it "short sighted" to boil the issue down to cost.

"I think it's a much larger issue. It's about planning proactively," she
said. "There are a lot of issues and decisions that are going to cost the
City money, but the best way is to be proactive."

Oshawa council is doing that now by putting together a strategic plan and
looking at fine-grain zoning, which allows for only "positive-impact uses"
at street level downtown, she said. If the City had engrained those Vision
2000 principles in its Official Plan in 1996, when the blueprint was
introduced, Coun. Parkes argued, this week's appeal would have been iron clad.

The best strategy now, she said, is to get to work on a downtown sports and
entertainment complex and other projects that will raise property values in
the core.

"As the value of property rises, I think the uses will change downtown and
I hope ultimately these guys will move along," Coun. Parkes said. "In the
meantime, we'll try to work with them."

Asked if the City could have taken that approach much earlier and spared
some costs, she said it would not have been possible three years ago
because "the leadership of the City had abandoned the downtown."

Mr. Lorusso said he's still willing to work with the City and would even
consider moving to another location. But it would have be a spot
appropriate for his patients and staff, and his expense to turn the former
bank into a clinic (about $100,000) would also have to be reimbursed.

In the meantime, he's willing to expand the front of the building for a
designated smoking area to get his patients off the street. But a
suggestion from Coun. Parkes that they might use a back entrance instead
isn't workable, he said.

"Our patients are traditionally secretive and, I assure you, they will hang
around much more if they're in the back," he said. "Right now, they come
out the front door and are on their way."