Operators of a Pikesville drug clinic are asking a federal judge to permanently halt Baltimore County?s efforts to shut it down.
The methadone clinic, A Helping Hand, filed a petition in federal District Court that would forever bar Baltimore County from enforcing a local zoning law restricting medical facilities to sites at least 750 feet from homes. The request comes days after the county enforced the rule on a proposed clinic in Fullerton.
“They have not been willing to agree that they?re not willing to ever enforce it,” said Deborah Jeon, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is to restore our injunction.”
The civil rights group represents the private, for-profit Pikesville clinic that dispenses methadone to treat addicts of opiates such as heroin.
In February a panel of judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ? one level below the Supreme Court ? ruled the County Council violated the clinic?s due process when it passed the zoning law the same day the state issued its license and without a public hearing in 2002.
But left unanswered is the clinic?s claim that the law violates the Americans With Disabilities Act; this matter will require a new trial in District Court if clinic owner Joel Prell wishes to seek one.
His attorney, Jimmy Rock, said they haven?t decided. But neighbors of the facility, which county officials said is not problematic, described it as a persistent nuisance.
“We have some shady characters wandering around on the streets,” said Lorna Diaz, president of the Ralston Community Association. “I found a hypodermic needle in front of my house. There?s been some petty crimes ? bike stolen from porches, sheds being broken into.”
Diaz? concerns echo the fears of Fullerton residents, who successfully challenged the siting of another for-profit methadone clinic last month.
Then, more than 700 residents signed a petition asking the county to enforce the zoning law.
U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Blake ? who granted the Pikesville clinic a temporary injunction during the initial five-year legal proceedings ? has not yet ruled on its latest request.
