Residents object to proposed methadone clinic

City council has the final say on zoning.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Michael Wish said he just wants to do something positive with the property he's looking to buy on the city's West Side.
But if the residents who turned out for a public hearing Tuesday have their way, Wish will have to nix his plans to turn the Sampson Street building into a methadone clinic.
Wish, who owns Wish Management, is asking city council to rezone the property at 1001 Sampson St., formerly occupied by Systems Management, from light industrial to local commercial to accommodate his plans.
"This is an opportunity to address a problem in New Castle and to do something to make it better," said Wish. "We have a severe drug problem here. This clinic is something the city needs."
Wish and his partner Stephen Koury plan to buy the property and lease it to a national provider that would operate the clinic and provide treatment for people addicted to opiates. Wish and Koury have not disclosed the name of the national provider. The site is owned by Lily Owen & amp; Associates.
Residents' concerns
But residents such as Marvin Johnson said they are concerned about the people the clinic would bring into that area of the city and how the facility could impact the community.
"It's what people will see coming in and going out" of the city, Johnson told council. "It's just gotta go someplace else."
Some 80 residents crammed into council chambers at the city building Tuesday to express their views on the proposed clinic.
Eleanor Richardson, who lives on the city's West Side, said the clinic would "not help the neighborhood at all."
Mary Ellen Jessel said she doesn't see a need for a methadone clinic in the city since several such facilities exist throughout the area including in Hermitage, Butler, Cranberry Township and Aliquippa.
The Rev. Samuel Holmes said methadone acts as a pacifier, not a cure, for addicts. "But you can't pacify addiction," he said.
Other residents said they are worried about the people going in and out of the clinic because there are numerous children living in that area.
Wish's proposed facility is one of two methadone clinics being proposed for New Castle. Freedom Healthcare Services has proposed establishing its own methadone clinic at 401 S. Jefferson St., which is zoned light industrial district.
City council has the final say on zoning for both requests. Lawmakers intend to vote on whether to grant Wish's request at council's public meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 10. A public hearing on the South Jefferson Street proposal is set for 6:15 p.m. May 22.