Dozens of Lackawanna County residents came out for a public hearing on the possibility of a methadone clinic moving into the Keystone Industrial Park in Dunmore. This was the second hearing on the issue.
The health care company that wants to build the clinic is challenging the borough's rules for where a treatment center can be built, but the residents of Dunmore who came to the meeting maintain they do not want this clinic in their community.
The building is on Monahan Avenue in the Keystone Industrial Park in Dunmore. A Boston-based health care company called Habit OPCO wants to turn it into a methadone clinic, a treatment center used to help people with heroin addictions.
At the second public hearing, the company requested Dunmore change its zoning ordinance in regards to drug treatment centers.
Borough solicitor Thomas Cummings said the ordinance calls for physical limitations on where methadone clinics can be built.
"The distance from another developer has to be 1000 feet, and the distance from a playground, school, licensed bar, nursing home, is a half mile," said Cummings.
Gretchen Sterns, an attorney with Habit OPCO questioned whether the borough's zoning ordinance complies with state and federal regulations.
"There is not a single location in Dunmore that would meet those requirements. So even though their ordinance appears to allow for this type of use, it really doesn't, said Sterns. "To not allow it would be unconstitutional."
Members of the Dunmore community who turned out at the meeting continued to insist they did not want a clinic in the borough.
Tom Jimmie owns a business across from the proposed site. He came armed with a petition carrying 600 signatures opposing the clinic.
"I love Dunmore, that's the bottom line. I like the way it is and we don't want it to cause any problems we don't have to cause," said Jimmie.
According to Habit OPCO, methadone patients are a protected class under the Americans with Disabilities act. They are also challenging the ordinance because the language in the ordinance specifically singles out methadone patients.
Another hearing on the matter will be scheduled.
The health care company that wants to build the clinic is challenging the borough's rules for where a treatment center can be built, but the residents of Dunmore who came to the meeting maintain they do not want this clinic in their community.
The building is on Monahan Avenue in the Keystone Industrial Park in Dunmore. A Boston-based health care company called Habit OPCO wants to turn it into a methadone clinic, a treatment center used to help people with heroin addictions.
At the second public hearing, the company requested Dunmore change its zoning ordinance in regards to drug treatment centers.
Borough solicitor Thomas Cummings said the ordinance calls for physical limitations on where methadone clinics can be built.
"The distance from another developer has to be 1000 feet, and the distance from a playground, school, licensed bar, nursing home, is a half mile," said Cummings.
Gretchen Sterns, an attorney with Habit OPCO questioned whether the borough's zoning ordinance complies with state and federal regulations.
"There is not a single location in Dunmore that would meet those requirements. So even though their ordinance appears to allow for this type of use, it really doesn't, said Sterns. "To not allow it would be unconstitutional."
Members of the Dunmore community who turned out at the meeting continued to insist they did not want a clinic in the borough.
Tom Jimmie owns a business across from the proposed site. He came armed with a petition carrying 600 signatures opposing the clinic.
"I love Dunmore, that's the bottom line. I like the way it is and we don't want it to cause any problems we don't have to cause," said Jimmie.
According to Habit OPCO, methadone patients are a protected class under the Americans with Disabilities act. They are also challenging the ordinance because the language in the ordinance specifically singles out methadone patients.
Another hearing on the matter will be scheduled.
