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By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
Thursday, March 06, 2003 Page: 1A
For the Record: 3/7/03 The name of the Plains Township Zoning Board
solicitor was spelled incorrectly in an article that appeared Thursday. The
correct name is Laura Macaravage.
PLAINS TWP. – Officials with Wyoming Valley Health Care System said
Wednesday they’re on solid legal ground in their effort to locate a methadone
clinic on Laird Street and vowed to fight as long as necessary to secure
township approval.
Mary Martin, director of Choices drug and alcohol treatment center, said
she is hopeful township officials will concur with that opinion, but the
health care system is prepared to take the battle to Luzerne County Court of
Common Pleas.
“I believe if it goes before a judge, the judge is going to see we
absolutely are within our legal rights and will be able to quickly make a
decision granting us the opportunity to get in there,” she said.
Zoning officer Richard Piekutowski on Tuesday said he denied the clinic’s
application for an occupancy permit at 307 Laird St. because he does not
believe a methadone clinic qualifies as a medical clinic, which falls within
the B3 business zone in which the proposed site is located.
Bruce Phillips, attorney for the health care system, said he is convinced
the clinic is medical – an opinion hospital officials said is backed up by the
state Department of Health.
But even if a court finds otherwise, Phillips said state law prohibits any
community from banning a particular type of business, other than those that
might violate obscenity laws. That means the township must provide some other
zoning district in which a methadone clinic could locate, he said.
“You cannot exclude any potential use in a community,” Phillips said.
“If I want a methadone clinic, if I want an explosives storage facility, if I
want a landfill, no matter what the use, it has to be provided for in the
zoning ordinance,” Phillips said.
Phillips said other communities, including Wilkes-Barre city and
Wilkes-Barre Township, have added “methadone clinic amendments” to their
zoning ordinances that regulate where a clinic can locate. Plains Township
never did that, therefore the clinic falls within the existing zoning
ordinance, he said.
“That’s where I think we’re on real firm ground here. If it’s not a
medical clinic, where else is it provided for in the ordinance?”
Laura Marcavage, attorney for the Zoning Board, said she could not comment
on the case because it is not yet before the board.
Choices, which is part of the health-care system, has been working for
years with the Luzerne and Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol program to
establish a methadone clinic.
Martin said Wednesday the Laird Street location was one of at least 150
sites that were looked at during the past nine months. Other sites were
eliminated because they either did not fit Act 10, the state law that
prohibits a clinic within 500 feet of churches, homes and other community
buildings; or because the property owner would not rent to them.
She said Tony Rinaldi, the owner of the Laird Street building, agreed to
rent to them because he believes methadone treatment is needed locally. She
said Rinaldi did extensive research on methadone, including visits to a clinic
in Allentown, before agreeing to the lease. Rinaldi could not be reached for
comment Wednesday.
Phillips said Piekutowski has not officially denied the clinic’s
application for the occupancy permit. He said Piekutowski refused to accept
the application, saying the issue must be presented to commissioners for a
conditional use hearing.
Phillips said he does not believe the clinic is a conditional use and will
not agree to the hearing. If Piekutowski does not grant the permit, he said he
will appeal directly to the Zoning Board. If he loses there, the case would go
to Luzerne County Court.
Whatever the scenario, Phillips said he hopes all officials will base their
decision on the law, not emotion. Several township commissioners interviewed
Tuesday expressed strong opposition to the clinic, which drew a strong caution
from Phillips.
“The commissioners should be careful what they say. If it comes in to play
that they have a decision, they could be held liable. This has to be judged by
the criteria of the law, not what they want.”
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at
829-7179.