City Capitulates, Agrees to Washington Street Methadone Clinic

The Planning and Zoning Commission on Friday voted to approve a legal settlement with the Root Center, which if accepted by the courts, would allow the Root Center to open a methadone clinic at 392 Washington Street, a site currently used by Fine Tunes Car Stereo, between Main Switch Beauty Salon and Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe..

The application for this clinic was the subject of 3 public hearings in 2020, after which the Commission voted 4-3 in favor of approval. However, this is considered a denial under the City Charter, which stipulates that 5 affirmative votes are required  for any Commission action. The Root Center sued to overturn the decision, arguing that our Charter's requirement was in violation of State statutes. The Superior Court agreed with the Root Center, essentially overturning this part of our City Charter. 

The City, represented by Christopher Forte, appealed this decision to the Connecticut Supreme Court, but it also entered into negotiations with the Root Center. Those negotiations led to an agreement that gave the Root Center what it wanted--permission to build a Methadone Clinic at 392 Washington Street. Attorney Forte told the Commissioners:

[You] agree to grant a reasonable accommodation ... . You are not approving a zone change, you are not granting a special exception, you are granting a reasonable accommodation, which you are empowered to do under the ADA (the federal law that comes down and replaces zoning in this case), ... give them permission to operate. 

Preserving the City Charter rules seems to have been a major motivation for the city. The agreement with the Root Center is contingent on the Superior Court agreeing to vacate its ruling on the Charter. Forte told the Commissioners, "What that means is that we will get our charter back, which will require 5 votes for all of your decisions, so that issue will be saved for another day." 

The agreement specifies a number of conditions that the Root Center must meet, largely around issues of loitering, parking, and public safety. In addition, both the Root Center and the city must abide by the findings of the state Department of Transportation with respect to the traffic and safety impacts of the methadone clinic. All of the major conditions were already present in the original application, which went through numerous Public Hearings and revisions in 2020. 

Both the Superior Court and the Supreme Court need to take action before this agreement is in effect. 

[Disclosure: I was on the Commission at the time of the original application; I voted in favor]