SALEM — Relieved neighbors rejoiced yesterday at the news that a New England drug abuse center has abandoned its plans to open a methadone clinic on Canal Street.
Community Substance Abuse Centers may still open a clinic in Salem, but it won't be on a second-floor build-out at the former Jeffery Brothers building.
"They're very happy," Ocean Avenue resident Megan Romanovitz said of her neighbors, many of whom found out yesterday morning when they read about it in The Salem News. "We feel we've won the war, but the battle's still there."
Mayor Kim Driscoll told property owner Anthony Gattineri the city could not support a methadone clinic at the Canal Street site, during a meeting earlier this week that also included state Rep. John Keenan. Both Driscoll and Keenan are receptive to a methadone clinic, but not at that site.
Two weeks ago, a few hundred residents packed a Salem State Neighborhood Association meeting to protest the methadone clinic out of concerns for traffic, loitering and drug use in a neighborhood close to homes and two schools.
City Councilor John Ronan credited the clinic's decision to drop the Canal Street site to mounting pressure from residents.
"Undoubtedly, it was the united neighborhood opposition," Ronan said. "... They certainly got wind of the sentiment in Ward 5."
While Ronan may be breathing a sigh of relief, other ward councilors are likely sitting on the edge of their seats, bracing for a potential battle if the clinic announces an alternative location in their ward. The methadone clinic's attorney, Jack Keilty, has said the company expects resistance no matter where it locates.
"It's a difficult problem, trying to find an area for it," Ronan said. "But that's not really our job."
Meanwhile, Ronan and neighbors are still trying to rally residents to attend a joint meeting Monday night of the City Council and Planning Board. Both boards will discuss a zoning amendment that would require medical offices — including methadone clinics — to seek approval from the city's Zoning Board of Appeals before it can operate. Currently, such clinics only need to receive a building permit.
"We want everybody who wants to have a say into what goes into their community and on their street to show up to the meeting ... and speak up," Romanovitz said. "... Otherwise, don't complain about what comes into your neighborhood."
No one from the methadone clinic could be reached for comment yesterday afternoon. Keilty and Vice President of Development Bob Potter did not return phone calls. Neither did Gattineri, the property owner.
Community Substance Abuse Centers had envisioned a 7,000-square-foot facility on the second floor of the former furniture building to serve approximately 200 recovering drug addicts, mainly users of heroin and OxyContin. The company asserted the clinic would have a minimal impact in the neighborhood and would perform a valuable community service — helping alleviate a growing drug problem in the city.
The facility would have dispensed methadone in the mornings and offered drug counseling in the afternoons. The company runs a similar clinic on Route 1 in Peabody.
Some neighbors, including Romanovitz, said they were prepared to move if the clinic opened in the neighborhood. Ronan said he fielded hundreds of calls from constituents over the last few weeks.
"This was a galvanizing experience for the ward," he said.
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salem news.com.
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