PINEY FLATS, Tenn. - A methadone treatment clinic is being proposed for the industrial park in Piney Flats and some residents have raised concerns.
The clinics treat people with drug dependencies related to opioids like heroin and painkillers by using methadone to relieve withdrawal symptoms.
The clinic has a zoning application that will go before the Sullivan County Planning Commission at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The applicant is asking that 331 and 333 Industrial Park Road be rezoned from M1 to M2, a broader manufacturing zone required for a methadone clinic to operate.
Sullivan County Inspector Claude Smith said he did not know many details about the application, but he does foresee some problems. The entire industrial park is zoned M-1 and he said he’s not sure the commission would approve a zoning request for one parcel.
“I would not say what they are going to do, but they do not normally do spot zoning,” Smith said.
A group called Citizens for Piney Plats is circulating a petition that opposes the rezoning applications. The group placed an advertisement in the Bristol Herald Courier directing people to sign an online petition at www.citizensforpineyflats.org. On Friday, however, the site only said “Coming Soon!”
A similar clinic was set to open in Bristol, Va., in 2010, but closed before doing any business. The clinic failed to get the proper permits from the city.
Around the same time, Bristol, Tenn., placed limits on where a methadone clinic could operate within the city. Those restrictions were put in place after a Dallas company attempted to open a clinic in Kingsport, Tenn.
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