Peekskill Out of Options to Needle Methadone Clinic
Construction has begun on a controversial methadone clinic on Corporate Drive off Highland Avenue as Peekskill officials appear out of legal options to stop it.
Peekskill Mayor Frank Catalina, an attorney, said Friday it’s a “very longshot” that the city has any valid legal arguments left to make to thwart the Renaissance Project from proceeding to serve up to 275 patients at the clinic.
“It is back to square one. Our options are not good,” Catalina remarked. “The ball is in our court now.”
The former Peekskill Common Council, of which four remain, late last year asked the Zoning Board of Appeals for an interpretation of whether an outpatient treatment facility is a “professional use” as defined under the zoning law and if it’s a permitted use in the M-2 Zoning District.
The council unsuccessfully used that same argument in an Article 78 proceeding against the city’s Planning Commission. In May, state Supreme Court Justice Lester Adler ruled in favor of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission originally approved the plan in June 2012 but had to rescind it after it was learned city officials did not legally notify neighboring Cortlandt and some city residents. The commission approved the plan a second time, ignoring a request from the Common Council and more than 1,000 people who signed petitions in opposition.
The Department of Public Works issued a building permit to the Elmsford-based Renaissance Project on September 10. On January 16, the ZBA was deadlocked in determining whether the DPW acted properly, which technically was a negative vote, but apparently it carries no weight. Catalina, Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi and others wrote letters to the ZBA opposing the methadone clinic.
Catalina said he was concerned if the rest of the council opts to pursue further legal action Peekskill could get itself caught up in some civil rights violations.
“I wouldn’t condemn the Renaissance Project. These are dedicated professionals that help people. I don’t think it’s in the appropriate location, but it is what it is,” Catalina said. “The people that will be treated there are not all drug addicts. I’m not aware of any service calls that the police had at Hudson Valley Hospital.”
The methadone clinic operated at Hudson Valley Hospital Center since 1979. However, in the summer of 2012 the hospital, tired of losing money with the clinic, entered into an agreement with the Renaissance Project to take it over. The clinic shut down at the hospital last July. Hospital officials said the Renaissance Project was recommended by Westchester County. The not-for-profit organization is fully licensed to provide treatment to those affected by substance abuse. There are five other treatment programs in Westchester and one in Newburgh.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
