Roanoke County Reverses Field

LICENSE DENIED FOR METHADONE CLINIC SITE

"It is my opinion, as zoning administrator, that the operation of a
methadone clinic is not the practice of family medicine," David Holladay wrote.

Roanoke County denied a business license for a methadone clinic in a
suburban neighborhood Tuesday, delighting residents opposed to the proposal
while inviting a possible legal challenge from the clinic.

In rejecting an application from the Life Center of Galax to operate a
satellite clinic at Colonial Avenue and Ogden Road, zoning administrator
David Holladay changed his earlier interpretation of the county's zoning
ordinance.

In June, Holladay wrote in a letter to the Life Center's attorney that a
methadone clinic falls within the category of a medical office, an allowed
use for the zoning district where the clinic is being proposed.

But in denying the Life Center's application for a business license, which
requires a finding of zoning compliance, Holladay wrote in a letter dated
Tuesday that new information recently provided by the Life Center led him
to a different conclusion.

"It is my opinion, as zoning administrator, that the operation of a
methadone clinic is not the practice of family medicine," Holladay wrote,
referring to the site's intended use when it was rezoned in 1989 to allow a
family medical clinic.

In announcing plans last month to open the clinic, which would offer
outpatient treatment to addicts of opium-based drugs such as OxyContin and
heroin, officials with the Life Center said they had received assurances
from the county that the site was zoned appropriately.

"We are shocked and surprised by today's action," said Tina Renee Bullins,
the Life Center's chief executive officer.

Bullins declined to comment on whether the Life Center will contest the
county's actions.

But the possibility of a legal challenge from the drug treatment center was
acknowledged by the county Tuesday when the board of supervisors held a
special closed meeting to discuss "probable litigation" involving the clinic.

Since the Life Center announced plans to open its clinic in a vacant
doctor's office, the county has essentially been put in a position of
getting sued either way. Had it approved the business license, the county
might have faced a lawsuit from angry residents in the area, County
Attorney Paul Mahoney said.

Now that the license has been denied, legal action from the Life Center
seems just as likely.

"I think the odds are pretty good" that the matter will wind up in court,
Mahoney said after the board emerged from an hourlong executive session.

Although the long-term scenario appeared murky, Tuesday's decision gave
residents opposed to the clinic reason for immediate celebration.

"That's wonderful to hear," said Mark Graham, head of a citizens' group
formed last week after about 200 Southwest Roanoke County residents stormed
a community meeting to voice concerns about traffic, crime and decreased
property values they believe the clinic would bring.

Graham said he hoped the county's action will lead the Life Center to
consider other, more appropriate sites for a drug treatment center, which
most agree is needed in the region. But the citizens' group will continue
to meet and plan opposition to the Colonial Avenue site.

"We're in this for the long haul," Graham said.

In Holladay's letter to Life Center attorney Ed Natt, the county zoning
administrator listed three pieces of new information recently provided by
the Life Center that led him to conclude that a methadone clinic does not
meet the county's definition of a medical office. They are:

The arrival of patients between the hours of 5 a.m. and 2 p.m. Such
activity is "much different from scheduled appointments at a typical
doctors' or dentists' office," Holladay wrote.

Planned security measures that include the use of guards and possibly a
fence around the clinic. "These security measures are not consistent with a
typical medical office," Holladay wrote.

A statement from the Life Center that a physician may not be at the site
every day, which Holladay said conflicted with assurances made earlier in
the process.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that can be used legally only with a
doctor's prescription. Proponents of methadone treatment say that when
given appropriately in daily doses, the drug curbs opioid addicts' cravings
and eliminates withdrawal symptoms, allowing them to lead normal lives.

Although the county has mentioned the possibility of legal action, the Life
Center could first take steps short of going to court - including taking
the denial to the county's board of zoning appeals.