Friday, June 04, 1999
Methadone pits county, city
Commission votes against industrial site
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If Covington city commissioners change the city zoning code this summer so that a methadone clinic can open in Pioneer Industrial Park, they will do so despite the recommendations from county planning officials.
Members of the Kenton County and Municipal Planning and Zoning Commission voted Thursday:
• That Covington's zoning code not be changed to allow a methadone clinic at the industrial park on Ky. 17, near Interstate 275.
• That a 107-acre parcel behind the Latonia Shopping Center on Ky. 16 and north of I-275 should not be rezoned from industrial park usage to an urban industrial zone if the overriding purpose of the zoning change is to keep the controversial methadone clinic out of the area.
“The city's making a mistake,” said planning and zoning commission Chairman Tim Theissen of Covington's attempts to keep a methadone clinic from going in behind the shopping center. “It's like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.”
Covington Zoning Administrator Ralph Hopper represented the city at Thursday night's session, where several residents from Edgewood and Taylor Mill were on hand to protest the zoning issues.
They mainly stated worries about the industrial park's proximity to several residences plus Pioneer Park, and the safety hazards that could arise if a methadone clinic intended to serve up to 150 heroin, pain reliever and anti-depressant addicts were to move into the area.
The clinic would draw clientele from up to 90 miles.
“I won't feel safe driving on the highways knowing they're coming from a 90-mile area,” said Pat Bischoff of Edgewood. “I really think this is a bad thing. You should think long and hard on this before you do it.”
Planning staff members also noted that the industrial park was intended for industrial purposes. A methadone clinic, they said, does not fit that bill.
Meanwhile, Mr. Hopper noted that Covington is in a jam. The zoning proposals are an attempt to resolve the city's 18-month dispute with the for-profit MX Group Inc. of Pittsburgh.
A pending federal lawsuit states that Covington violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because residents who are disabled by their addictions are denied access to treatment centers. Covington now has no zone to permit such centers.
“We're simply trying to find ways to meet the requirements of the court and do (this) in a least offensive way,” Mr. Hopper told the planning commissioners.
Despite the commission's votes Thursday, Covington city commissioners will have the final say on the two zoning issues. The issues could come before them in July.
Edgewood Mayor John Link protested the proposals Thursday night because he doesn't want to see the industrial park used for nonindustrial purposes.
He's already thinking about getting people to sign petitions, as well as rallying them to appear before Covington city commissioners. “We won't give up,” he said.
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