Council Upholds Ordinance Banning Methadone Clinic
But decision won't stop center from suing township over license
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Bloomfield residents seemed to get the answer they were looking for at Monday night's council meeting about the fate of a proposed methadone clinic at Watsessing Avenue.
Mayor Raymond McCarthy and council members agreed to uphold a prior ordinance prohibiting methadone counseling centers in any part of Bloomfield, squashing weeks of rumors that a clinic was set to reopen at the address.
"It failed to move," McCarthy said over applause in the mayor's conference room.
The council opted to begin Monday night's meeting with a roughly 20-minute closed session in the room to discuss the drug center, while more than 50 Bloomfield residents awaited the decision in a steamy hallway in the law enforcement building.
"I'd just like to first thank the mayor and city council for making such a wonderful decision to support the ordinance to prevent this methadone clinic in Bloomfield," said resident Dan Natal.
American Counseling Center, Inc. (ACC) has threatened litigation to regain the right to treat addicts at the clinic, after its Certificate of Occupancy was revoked by the township in 2007.
Brian Aloia, the township's attorney, said the council's decision Monday night was made under verbal and written legal advice. He said, however, it doesn't prevent ACC from filing a lawsuit.
Prior to the closed session, the mayor riled residents by refusing to move the meeting to the larger council chambers in the adjoining town hall, despite reaching the 42-person maximum occupancy in the conference room.
"I thank you, but we had to do (closed session) here so we could have a great discussion about it," McCarthy said. "That's why I like to stay in this room."
Some residents were forced to listen to the first half-hour of the meeting from the hallway, which was measured by the fire department for maximum occupancy earlier that day in anticipation of a large crowd. The hallway, located on the second floor of the law enforcement building, can hold up to 200 people, according to Fire Chief Joseph McCarthy.
The meeting was eventually moved to council chambers under the suggestion of Councilman Bernard Hamilton.
Correction: The original headline of this story incorrectly referred to the clinic as a "meth" center. It has been changed to "methadone."
Karen Banda
7:34 pm on Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The mayor was extremely peeved at the fire chief. When he walked into the room, visibly ticked off by the crowd, he shot a look at the fire chief and said "I thought you were going to help me out here." It was clear the fire chief was in charge of crowd control, but after the 42nd person to enter the room (against the wishes of the fire chief) it was clear he was fighting a losing (and illegal) battle. Once the council reopened the meeting to the public, the new tactic was to allow just 27 members of the public into the room, forcing the rest to remain in the hallway. That didn't go over too well and the mayor was forced/shamed into doing what he should have done in the first place: move the meeting to the council chambers.,
Ruth Ann Alston
3:01 am on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
There is a BIG difference in a METHADONE clinic and a METH clinic. Methadone is the LEGAL, synthetic opiate medication used to wean opiate addicts (heroin, pain killers etc) off of opiates. METH is METHAMPHETAMINE which is an illegal substance used as a stimilant. You really need to change the title of your article to reflect this. It's a shame that the public is given misinformation such as this to base their opinions on. People do not call METHADONE clinics METH clinics as this gives ppl the wrong idea about what is done there.
In this day and age the methadone clinic isn't just for the heroin addict. Most patients who use methadone clinics in this day and age are addicted to legally prescribed pain killers that for one reason or another, they ended up addicted to. If you have EVER had a real addiction to pain killers, you will know how difficult it is to stop on your own. When traditional rehab fails ppl. methadone clinics can give them a way to try and get some stability back into their lives and quit living as an addict.
Just wait till their children, their spouses, their friends or neighbors finally admit to the fact that they have a pain killer addiction and can't seem to quit on their own and they will be really regretful that they didn't allow this clinic to open up.
Lia Eustachewich
3:30 am on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
You are correct, Ruth Ann. A correction will be made.
Kerry Fields Wolf
11:24 am on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What is sad is that the town has such poor legal advice. Over and over again we see this same scenario--a town tries to violate the ADA by banning clinics within its boundaries, or by creating zoning ordinances that differentiate between methadone clinics and any other type of medical facility. This has been illegal since the passage of the ADA in the early 1990's, yet towns seem unable to get the message despite the endless string of wasted tax dollars and failed lawsuits that follow these attempts.
IN a nutshell, no town or county can "ban" methadone clinics within it's boundaries, and while they CAN apply normal zoning ordinances to them, these zoning ordinances CANNOT differentiate between methadone clinics and any other type of medical office or dental facility, period. If you want to force a clinic, for example, to be 2,000 yards away from schools, daycares, churches, funeral homes, libraries, hospitals, parks, etc etc you can do that--as long as you make the exact same requirements of any other physician's office or medical facility.
Methadone patients are not monsters of depravity. They are regular people with regular jobs, families, etc who became dependent upon opioid drugs. Over 75% of today's clinic patients are there for addiction to Rx painkillers, not heroin. They are there because methadone is the most successful method of treatment available, by far. Towns where clinics locate experience a DECREASE in crime, and no change in property values.
Karen Banda
1:14 pm on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Kerry, the problem is Bloomfield is already suffering from a bad reputation and the Watsessing area has enough image problems. With everything going on in this town a methadone clinic is the last thing we need to add to Bloomfield's declining image. You might be 100% right in what you posted. The problem is perception. When I first moved to Bloomfield a hundred years ago(!) it was almost the same as moving to Short Hills, Essex Fells or any other "good" location in NJ. Not so now. I have people asking me if I feel safe walking in the center. Even contractors ask me how safe my town and neighborhood are before they want to come. That's beyond sad.
All things being equal a clinic might not be the horrible thing it's been made out to be. Bloomfield's residents, especially homeowners, don't have the luxury of taking that chance.
Kerry Fields Wolf
10:31 pm on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Karen, that is why the ADA protects these clinics and their patients--because decisions affecting people's LIVES and ability to access healthcare are being made based on "perception" rather than fact. Rather than just kowtowing to fearmongering and rumors, and creating laws based on what someone kinda heard one time from this guy they sorta know, laws must be based on FACT. And the FACTS show that methadone clinics decrease crime in the areas in which they operate, that they have no effect on property values, and that most people residing in the area of or working near a clinic are unaware it even exists, since the majority of patients have come and gone by 8am.
Geoff Gove
9:28 am on Thursday, April 14, 2011
Kerry, you've referred to "facts" without any specifics or sources. PLease tell us what NJ clinics these facts are derived from. Where and how have they led to a decrease in crime? As I a Realtor, I would be especially interested in the evidence that proves that no clinic has ever had an effect on property values.
Tatittle
12:19 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
I find it pathetic that often the folks most vocally oppossed to this type of stuff are the superficial liberals who feign such deep concern for people facing serious challenges. Not in my backyard si just as prevelant with them as any other ideologically based sample, and often more so. I was a client at the Bloomfield clinic before overeaching gov't shut it down. The convenient and safe location was a vital part of my stopping abuse of legal drugs. Before that I had to go to a bad neighborhood in Newark. An area where many find the temptations of that location lead to more addiction problems, instead of treating the condition successfully. This is exactly wheremany folks are relegated to now that Bloomfield has banned clinics. Once again, the Progressive compassion is merely superficial, and abandoned when there is a risk true charity may be required. Tax cheats, smallest charitable donations, endless red tape...it is clear that consciencly or not, most Progressives support an increase in cushy beauracratic jobs more than the actually obtaining the results all the programs claim to attempt.
Pete Mock
3:39 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Tatittle, I find your comments very compelling. This debate has been sorely missing the voices and views of people like you who are also directly effected. What you said about access and where people have to go now to get help is something I hadn't really considered.
One thing though. The political leanings of the folks on both sides of this issue fall all over the map. No doubt there are conservatives who are opposed to the clinic, and liberals who are all for it. I think the comments above reflect that too. To make this out to be a left vs right issue I think is off the mark.
Geoff Gove
2:33 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Thanks for re-opening this discussion, Tatittle. It reminds us that Kerry had no FACTS to back up the absurd statements that preceded yours.
Kerry Fields Wolf
11:51 pm on Thursday, September 15, 2011
Here are some articles to back up my facts:
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/192305
""I don't even know that place is up there," Joseph Waller said of the clinic, which sits near his home on Swarthmore Avenue. "There is no problem whatsoever on this street from it.
"If it had to be rated, it would be a plus for the neighborhood and not a hindrance. Because it helps somebody, doesn't it?"
Since the clinic opened, property assessments on the 16 houses that sit on Swarthmore -- the nearest residential street to the clinic -- have all gone up, according to real estate records."
(other studies show that real estate agents from all around the country reported that property values were not affected when clinics located in a given area--most people are not even aware they exist.
As for reducing crime, that statistic is readily available just about everywhere:
http://international.drugabuse.gov/educational-opportunities/certificate-programs/methadone-research-web-guide/part-b/question-4-does-m
http://www.nacd.ie/news/launch_event26042007.html