METHADONE CLINIC GETS NOD FROM OMB

City Councillor Calls For Colleagues To Appeal Decision

OSHAWA - A methadone treatment clinic, the largest of its kind in Canada,
can move into the downtown thanks to a recent Ontario Municipal Board
decision. But some City councillors and downtown residents and merchants,
opposed to the clinic's location in the core area, want Oshawa council to
appeal that ruling to the provincial divisional court.

On Aug. 26, two board members, who heard evidence at a July hearing,
released their decision, ruling the City had no planning rationale to
support a restrictive interim control bylaw, passed early this year. The
board ordered the bylaw repealed.

The control bylaw called for a planning study to determine if clinics to
treat people addicted to opiates are appropriate for the downtown. The
bylaw froze a building permit for the First Step Medical Clinic for a
Simcoe Street South building.

"We won," said Dr. Mike Semoff, owner of the clinic, which currently
operates several blocks away on King Street West. "I'm pleased with the
decision. It's the correct legal, moral and ethical decision. The decision
has reaffirmed the public commitment to fair access to health care to all
people, regardless of their medical condition and any social prejudice
associated with that."

He said the clinic is ready to move as soon as possible.

However, a decision by City council to appeal the OMB decision could delay
that. Councillor Louise Parkes, a supporter of the interim control bylaw,
said she believes council should appeal the decision and is hoping a
special council meeting can be called next week in order to meet the Sept.
9 deadline for notice of appeal.

"I think it's an error in law," she said of the OMB decision by panellists
J.A. Smout and J.R. Boxma. "It's a weak judgment," she said.

She said she's "very disappointed" by the ruling. The City doesn't' need a
planning rationale for an interim control bylaw, just "overriding concern
about unanticipated use," she said.

In their ruling, the two boards members found "that authorizing resolution
and the interim control bylaw are not supported by a planning rationale and
therefore the bylaw must fall. The appeal is allowed and the Board orders
that interim control bylaw 24-2002 is repealed."

The board members found the bylaw specifically targeted patients of
methadone clinics and banned "a specific type of medical clinic based not
on the function of the clinic but on those who will use the clinic and what
their medical condition is." This is not a "valid planning rationale."

The City had argued public safety, planning concerns and revitalization of
the downtown in support for the control bylaw, the study for which was to
be completed in November.

"The City didn't win on any points," said Mayor Nancy Diamond. "There are a
lot of things in life that I may not like but I understand when a decision
has been made by the decision-making body. We'd better move on. We cannot
regulate people coming into the downtown and that's what this bylaw did. A
lot of money has been spent, a lot of time and the clinic had an absolute
win here. Councils make decisions but must do so under the context of the
rules and the laws. You have to be consistent and equitable and apply the
rules fairly. There was just nothing to support the City's position here.
We have lost absolutely under the law."

Darryl Sherman, head of the Downtown Board of Management, is calling on
residents and merchants to call City councillors to encourage them to
appeal the OMB decision and update the City's official plan to "ensure a
healthy city in the future."

"We expect them to go all the way to the wall on this because it's what the
community wants," he said. "We believe there will be grounds for an appeal.
We believe there is a planning rationale," he said, pointing to the many
City and community initiatives to improve the downtown, including the
recent, successful Jazz and Blues Festival, the Regent Theatre
redevelopment and strip club restrictions.

"If we're going to try to turn it (the downtown) around, the planning
rationale ... is to study and take a breather to see what needs to be done.
It makes sense that council has a right to make a decision."

He said he's not saying there shouldn't be a methadone clinic but just that
it's not appropriate in the downtown.

Mayor Diamond said enough money has been spent on the matter already. She
stressed appeals must be based on points of law and not whether someone
likes a decision or not.

The clinic, which first opened in 1997, serves about 550 patients, about
half living in Oshawa and others from the rest of Durham Region and across
eastern Ontario. About 95 per cent are addicted to prescription painkillers
and about 80 per cent work.

The clinic has outgrown its current location and Loralgia Management Ltd.,
the clinic operator, purchased 32 Simcoe St. S., the former National Trust
building, after a search of the downtown, assisted by City staff. Loralgia
had been told by City staff a medical clinic was permitted use in the
downtown. In February, Dr. Semoff was called before City councillors to
explain his clinic's operations. Another meeting, of which he said he was
not aware, was held at which councillors voted to put in place the interim
control bylaw, after hearing concerns of local residents and merchants and
a legal opinion from DOBOM's lawyer.

When he learned of the control bylaw and building permit freeze, Dr. Semoff
appealed the decision to the OMB. The clinic has been operating in its King
Street location on a month-to-month basis, under an agreement with the
landlord.