South Thomaston to vote on 180-day methadone clinic moratorium

This comes from a town in Maine. Another perfect example of NIMBY Not In My Back Yard.


South Thomaston to vote on 180-day methadone clinic moratorium
By Stephen Betts | Mar 14, 2011

South Thomaston — Voters will decide on March 29 whether to enact a 180-day moratorium on methadone clinics locating in town.

"A methadone clinic presents the potential for new and unknown impacts, including public safety concerns, the adequacy of streets to additional traffic, the comparability of methadone treatment facilities within existing residential and commercial zones; and the potential adverse health and safety effects of a methadone treatment facility on the community," the proposed ordinance said.

The ordinance said there are no ordinances in place that would effectively regulate methadone clinics.

"A methadone treatment facility presents the potential for impacts different from those normally associated with a typical medical office, including traffic concerns, public safety concerns and concerns about compatibility with surrounding uses," it said.

The Select Board decided that the town needed a reasonable amount of time to study the effect of methadone clinics because of potential overburdening of public facilities and called for the moratorium. The 180 days would start if voters give their approval at the March 29 meeting.

Last month, Selectman Jeff Northgraves said there were no plans for a clinic but the town wanted to be prepared.

"The planning board saw what was going on in other towns and knew our ordinances do not address the matter," Northgraves said.

Waldoboro and Warren have already enacted moratoriums on methadone clinics to allow their planning boards to develop regulations that will eventually go before voters at a town meeting. Warren voters approved that town's six-month moratorium on Dec. 13 and Waldoboro residents voted Jan. 11 to approve a six-month moratorium on methadone clinics and marijuana dispensaries.

There is a proposal to open a methadone clinic at the former Warren School in Warren.

The Rockland City Council voted March 2 to repeal the contract zone with the Turning Tide methadone clinic, saying conditions of the contract zone were violated.

Town meeting in South Thomaston is 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 29 at the Gilford Butler School.

Voters will also vote on the proposed municipal budget, elect a selectman, and elect one representative to the Regional School Unit 13 School Board.

Candidates for the RSU 13 seat are Ruth Anne Hohfeld and Eric Schenk. Hohfeld is the incumbent and is chairman of the board. South Thomaston has one representative on the 13-member board. There will be a candidates night for the RSU 13 candidates 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 at the library, the "Little Red Schoolhouse."

On the Board of Selectmen side of the race, Robert Branco is uncontested for the single open seat. The election will be conducted on the floor of town meeting.

The proposed budget for 2011 is $950,438, an increase of 11 percent ($94,512) from the $855,926 budget approved by residents at the March 2010 town meeting. The increase is largely due to the town roads budget. That is proposed to increase from $147,791 to $240,075. The town plans to pave the remainder of Westbrook Street.

original link
http://knox.villagesoup.com/news/story/south-thomaston-to-vote-on-180-day-methadone-clinic-moratorium/386011?cid=123854