CITY'S ZONING CHANGE VOTE MEANS CLINICS NEED $1,500 NEEDLE PERMIT

OAKLAND -- A zoning change restricting health clinics that treat
intravenous drug users or provide hypodermic needles was approved by the
City Council on Tuesday night.

Those clinics will now have to apply for a special permit, which costs more
than $1,500, to operate. No drug abuse clinic can be located within 2,500
feet of a similar clinic or within 500 feet of schools, transitional or
group housing or emergency shelters.

The council voted 7-1 to support the measure, with Councilmember Nancy
Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) opposing. She said there is a desperate need
for drug treatment programs in the city. She said the new ordinance would
not prevent poorly run programs from operating, nor would it prevent
residents from finding used hypodermic needles in their neighborhoods.

The issue came before council last year when neighbors found out that drug
treatment center Casa Segura, which offers a needle exchange program and
several other services, was moving to Foothill Boulevard. Casa Segura has
already applied for the "special health care civic" permit at the Foothill
site, anticipating the council would approve the zoning change. Neighbors
said their Eastmont neighborhood was overloaded with treatment programs,
and many believed those programs brought undesirable people into their
neighborhoods.

Joy Rucker, executive director of Casa Segura, was the only speaker at the
council hearing. She said she preferred to remain neutral about the
ordinance and hopes that the city will work with drug treatment programs to
help them secure the proper permits.