LYNNWOOD – The city’s reluctance to allow the opening of a methadone clinic is costing it some money.
The city settled with clinic owners CRC Health of San Diego on Monday, heading off a court battle. The settlement amount was not disclosed.
The for-profit Lynnwood Clinic opened April 26 at 18631 Alderwood Mall Parkway. The company’s permit application was eligible to be approved two weeks after it was filed in November 2002, said Traci Shallbetter, attorney for CRC Health. But it was not approved until July 2003, only after the city was ordered by a court to do so, she said.
The company sued Lynnwood in Snohomish County Superior Court, seeking damages of more than $300,000, Lynnwood city attorney Greg Rubstello said. With attorney fees, the total was close to $575,000, he said.
The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.
The clinic treats people addicted to heroin and illegally obtained prescription painkillers with the substitute drugs methadone, buprenorphine and Soboxone, clinic director David Newman said.
In the lawsuit, the company asked for losses caused by the delay in opening the clinic, Shallbetter said. She would not confirm the amount sought, but said it was based on actual losses and attorney fees and did not include punitive damages.
Lynnwood delayed approving the permit to force the clinic to go through a state public review process, including public hearings, that would determine its effect on the community, Rubstello said. “None of that ever happened,” he said.
The city sued the state to stop it from issuing the permit but was denied, he said.
A city can zone such facilities but can’t ban them, according to state law.
In CRC’s suit against the city, it alleged that the city violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the civil rights of its patients.
In a preliminary ruling, the judge threw out that part of CRC’s argument but still ruled the city should have processed the permit, Rubstello said.
The state held two public hearings in 2002 to determine the need for a methadone clinic in south Snohomish County. Since then, other companies have opened methadone clinics in Everett and near Arlington.
The Lynnwood Clinic is treating 129 patients, about 75 percent of whom either live or work in south Snohomish County, Newman said.
“We’re happy to be in the city of Lynnwood,” he said. “There is a need here.”
The clinic is located close to a Toys ‘R’ Us, the Interurban Trail and Lynnwood High School. Fears the clinic would increase crime haven’t come true, Lynnwood police Cmdr. Paul Watkins said.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner contributed to this story.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
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