Recovery center seeks to overturn rejection of methadone clinic

MIDDLETOWN — Attorneys for the Root Center for Advanced Recovery have filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming that the Planning and Zoning Commission’s rejection of a zoning variance application that was part of its request to build a methadone clinic on Washington Street was, in fact, an approval.

Root Center President and CEO Steven Zuckerman had hoped to receive a variance to construct a methadone treatment facility at 392 Washington St., where Fine Tunes Car Stereo & Complete Auto Repair is now. The land is designated as a mixed-use zone.

But any city of Middletown zoning board action vote requires a super majority to pass, according to the charter. That amounts to a vote of at least 5-2 . The zoning board rejected the Root Center application for a zoning variance for the site on Oct. 14, in a vote of 4-3. Members also rejected 7-0 a

request for a special exception for a change of use for the site from an automobile repair garage.

In a 19-page complaint, attorney Timothy Hollister of Shipman & Goodwin in Hartford outlined his argument, which is based his assertion that it is an “erroneous assumption” that five affirmative votes are required for any commission action. In it, the lawyer said, the 4-3 vote was, in fact, an approval, “because the charter and bylaw provisions mandating five affirmative votes are contrary to state law (specifically) General Statutes 8-3(b).”

In its suit, the Root Center asked the zoning commission to vote again on the application at its Oct. 28 meeting. Attorneys also are asking the court to declare the 4-3 vote to be an approval, to direct the commission to approve the special exception application, as well as award costs, and other “just and proper” relief.

Middletown Assistant General Counsel Christopher Forte has advised that a second vote is unwarranted. “It is the opinion of this office and the charter and CGS 8-3(b) do not conflict, and even if they did, it would be the charter that controls,” Forte said in an Oct. 27 letter to Hollister.

“Zoning boards are generally not allowed to reverse themselves unless there has been a change of conditions that has occurred since the prior decision of the board, or when other considerations materially affecting the merits of the subject matter have intervened and no vested rights have arisen,” Forte wrote.

The board could consider a second application, different from the one previously submitted, Forte wrote; however, “here, none of those conditions have been met.”

Mayor Ben Florsheim and Common Council members are the defendants in the Oct. 29 complaint brought by the Manchester-based Root Center.

The nonprofit organization, which had a grand opening for another location at 520 Saybrook Road in September, has as its mission, “compassionate, comprehensive care for sustained recovery.”

There were three public comment sessions on the Washington Street application this fall.

Mayor Ben Florsheim supports the Root Center proposal. “It is a shame there can be an affirmative vote and have it not count on something like this. The law we had on the books prevented any kind of treatment facility from existing in Middletown,” he has told The Press.

The final decision was somewhat unsettling for the mayor, he said. “I think we’ll look back on this with embarrassment. This is kind of a black eye for Middletown.”

The Root Center provides mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment at its nine clinics in Connecticut, Hollister said in the suit, adding that, for the past 30 years, methadone maintenance treatment facilities and methadone clinics have been prohibited in Middletown.

The suit said opioid abuse is a public health crisis that has resulted in “hundreds of untimely deaths.”

Zuckerman declined to speak specifically about the ongoing litigation. “It’s important for us to continue to pursue this to eventually get the needs met of clients living in Middletown and Middlesex County who we provide treatment for.”

Florsheim said this week the suit was not unexpected following the meeting’s outcome. “This is now a legal matter. We’ll have that opportunity to go through those channels and respect the outcome,” he said.

Florsheim said he was “ignorant of” that section of city charter. “If we’re not the only community in the state, it’s certainly not the norm in requiring a super majority,” he said. “You need five. I thought that may be the standard for zoning boards around the state, but I was wrong about that. It is not the usual practice.”

He hopes the newly formed Charter Review Commission will take up the matter.

The next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is set for Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. on the WebEx platform. For information, visit middletownct.gov.