Neighbors Up Pressure on East Side Suboxone Clinic
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
The original sign, which was removed and replaced with a smaller one, after neighbors cited statute for size.
Petition-signing drives contesting the location of the clinic, which was first made public last fall by a sign advertising the opening of the opiate dependence treatment facility at the historic property, have been organized as recently as Monday by the group “Residents of College Hill” — copies of which GoLocal has obtained (see below).
“The parcel in question has a variance for a doctor’s office and is allowed through the variance to the zoning ordinance to operate as such. The establishment may provide medical services unless the owner of the property chooses to formally change the use back to a conforming use, or applies and is successful in obtaining a different variance,” said Mayor Jorge Elorza's press secretary Victor Morente on Tuesday.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTWhen asked for comment from the Mayor about neighbors' concerns — and opposition — Morente did not respond.
Clinic Moving Forward, But Opponents Keep Pressing
Former Board of Licenses Chair Johanna Harris, who has been a constant critic of the Elorza administration, recently wrote a scathing review of the issue, which was first reported by GoLocalProv.com.
"This is a serious policy piece on the failure of the leadership of the City of Providence to squarely confront critical issues that affect our neighborhoods. It’s all about the Suboxone Shuffle, a new song-and-dance combo developed and performed by Mayor Jorge Elorza and his underlings. The principal motif of the musical score is silence. And the key dance move is to duck," wrote Harris.
Harris delineated the history of the historic property in the residential neighborhood — which had been given a variance for a prior doctor, but has since gone unused for that purpose for extended periods of time, until convicted mob drug dealer Ricky Dion bought the property to house the Suboxone clinic.
"The special-use permit...obtained in 1955 is a non-conforming use that would not pass muster before the Zoning Board of Review in 2017. Under Section 2001 of the Providence Zoning Ordinance, this non-conforming use has not been continuously maintained and, accordingly, it must be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Review as an entirely new application," wrote Harris.
Zurier, however said that the city’s Department of Inspection and Standards in February deemed the Suboxone clinic as “valid.”
“They’re going to apply the rules in the limit of that variance,” said Zurier of Inspection and Standards. “”That issue was presented to them and they do not the interpret the zoning code that way -- I've introduced legislation to clarify interpretations so that variances of that kind don't last forever, or are an on-going.”
Neighbors' Petition
Despite the currently ruling, the “Residents of College Hill” are continuing the challenge the city's position, with the petition that has seen the group host signing events at Blue State Coffee on Thayer Street, located a block away.
The petition, addressed to Elorza, as well as Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, reads as follows:
I write as a concerned resident of College Hill regarding the recent purchase of the historically listed Tillinghast House at 150 Lloyd Avenue. The proposed commercial use of this house as doctors' offices that prescribe Suboxone (a drug used in opioid treatment) in a R-1 Zone is a serious threat to the character and quality of this residential family neighborhood. I understood that the intention of the City's newly implemented zoning plan is to strengthen neighborhoods and allow commercial uses in appropriate areas.
My understanding is that a nonconforming commercial use in an area that is zoned for residential use may be deemed abandoned after a year of non-use, at which time the property reverts back to the existing zone, in this case R-1. See RIGL 45-24-39. When Providence enacted the new Code of Ordinances in December 2015, the commercial use of the 150 Lloyd Avenue property had long been abandoned. Many neighbors will attest to the abandoned use of this property as active physicians’ offices prior to and since passage of the new city zoning ordinances. Under the new zoning ordinances, the variance for physicians’ offices did not survive because there was no operation or use at the time of passage; therefore, it did not exist as a nonconformity under the criteria of section 2000 of the zoning ordinances.
We urge that the same standard be applied to use by variance as that of nonconforming grandfathered use, as the rationale is identical -- a balance between fairness to the property owner and fairness to the zoning interest of the neighborhood. Once the nonconforming or variance use lapses for more than a year and is presumptively abandoned, it is consistent with optimal zoning practice that the use revert to residential use in compliance with existing zoning. There is no factual question that the property at 150 Lloyd Avenue is not currently used as a physicians' office, and with minimal investigation the City can determine that it was not used prior to the time of the zoning amendment in December 2015. Therefore, the property should comply with R-1 Zoning.
Zurier noted that he believes the only recourse neighbors would have, based on recent actions by the city, would be to sue.
“I see it as a legal question at this point in time,” said Zurier, when asked what he would say to neighbors who are still opposed. "That's something to be sorted out based on property rights owners have.”
“In terms of impact on the neighborhood, there's a difference between a dispensary and one where people receive prescriptions to get filled, and I don't know where they are in that process,” added Zurier.
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