ROANOKE COUNTY GETS APPEAL FOR CLINIC

The Life Center Of Galax Is Pushing Ahead With Plans To Open A Methadone Clinic.

Neither neighborhood opposition nor a denied business license has
dissuaded a drug treatment center from pursuing its plan to open a
methadone clinic in Southwest Roanoke County.

That much became clear Monday, when the Life Center of Galax filed an
appeal asking the county's Board of Zoning Appeals to reconsider a
zoning administrator's decision last month to deny a business license
for the methadone clinic. A similar appeal was filed with the Board of
Supervisors.

After first telling the Life Center that a vacant medical office at
Colonial Avenue and Ogden Road was zoned appropriately for a methadone
clinic, the county reversed field last month and turned down a
business license request from the center.

In denying the license, zoning administrator David Holladay wrote in a
Sept. 30 letter that he changed his earlier interpretation of the
county's zoning ordinance based on new information "gathered over the
past few weeks" - a time when news of the Life Center's plans provoked
a storm of opposition from nearby residents.

The Life Center was never asked to provide new information during that
time, its attorney Ed Natt wrote in appeals filed Monday. In fact,
Natt wrote, the purportedly new information cited by Holladay was
provided by the Life Center in April, when it first inquired about the
Colonial Avenue site.

"It is inappropriate for the zoning administrator to change his
opinion based on new information gathered when that information is
exactly the same that existed in April," Natt wrote.

The new information cited by Holladay included concerns about the
clinic's 5 a.m. opening time, security measures that call for a fence
and a guard, and the fact that a physician will not always be at the
clinic.

The Life Center, which currently operates clinics in Galax and Cedar
Bluff, wants to dispense methadone to as many as 300 drug addicts in
the Roanoke Valley. Methadone is a powerful narcotic that, when
properly used for treatment, curbs addicts' cravings and withdrawal
symptoms and allows them to lead normal lives.

Opponents - who fear the clinic will bring crime, traffic congestion
and decreased property values to their neighborhood - had hoped their
battle was won last month when the county denied the business license.

While the possibility remains that the Life Center will find a
different location, it needed to file an appeal this week to meet a
30-day deadline and preserve the Colonial Avenue location as an option.

"We're not at this point ready to abandon the site, but we're looking
at other opportunities that may come up as well," said Deborah May,
the Life Center's director of marketing.

Hunter Smith, the Democratic candidate for the Cave Spring seat on the
Board of Supervisors, said Monday that he has been discussing possible
alternative sites with officials from the Life Center and its owner,
CRC Health Corp. of San Diego. Smith said his management work for a
company that builds nursing homes gives him some insight into the process.

Smith said that while the Life Center is open to other possibilities,
it could easily decide to wage a legal battle over the Colonial Avenue
site. The Life Center, which signed a lease and sought regulatory
approval after being first told by the county that the site was
properly zoned, could use that initial approval as its trump card in
court, Smith said.

County Attorney Paul Mahoney said Monday that it was not clear which
body - the Board of Zoning Appeals or the Board of Supervisors - will
act first on the matter. The appeal was filed too late to be taken up
by the Board of Zoning Appeals when it next meets Nov. 19. The county
might decide to schedule a special meeting of the two bodies, Mahoney
said.