EDMONDS LOOKS AT CLINIC MORATORIUM

EDMONDS -- The City Council will hold a public hearing tonight to consider a
moratorium on processing permits and licenses for methadone clinics seeking
to locate in town.

City officials say Edmonds has not received any applications, but the
moratorium would delay any licenses and permits being processed for the next
six months while the planning board and council devise a process that
details how such efforts will be handled.

"We wanted to be a little more proactive on what the city's position is
going to be," said Duane Bowman, the city's development services director.
"We'll take what comments come out of the public hearing and then decide
what we can do."

Bowman said the city needs to keep an open mind.

"People need treatment. You can't just absolutely ban (clinics)," he said.
"But we need to figure out what kinds of conditions will be imposed in order
for those kinds of businesses to locate in Edmonds."

Methadone is a prescription drug used to treat people addicted to opiates
such as heroin and prescription drugs such as OxyContin.

Cities such as Everett and Lynnwood have been faced with applications from
companies seeking to open methadone clinics. Everett adopted a six-month
moratorium in February.

Lynnwood adopted an emergency ordinance in November banning methadone
clinics within 250 feet of homes, schools, public parks and child-care
facilities. Last month, a Snohomish County judge ruled Lynnwood's ordinance
was an attempt to stop an application that was already in progress and said
the city must process the application under the zoning regulations that were
in place when the application was submitted.

Laura Minor of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources in Edmonds
said she has seen an increase in patients with prescription-drug addictions,
such as OxyContin, but that the need for a methadone clinic for Edmonds
residents isn't high. Still, Edmonds offers a central location for potential
clients who live in southern Snohomish County, she said.

Minor noted the image many have of a heroin or prescription-drug addict is
overblown and inaccurate.

"Methadone clients are people who have full-time jobs, have husbands and
wives, and families," she said. "The public just needs to be educated
because the problem is here."