[Contra Costa County] Methadone clinic can open in Concord after city settles lawsuit

Concord must pay the center $120,000 and the clinic will have to abide by a “security plan”

Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.

CONCORD — After a three-year fight that culminated in a lawsuit against the city last year, an addiction treatment group will be allowed to open a methadone clinic on Solano Way.

Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment (BAART) Programs filed a federal lawsuit against the city last August accusing it of discriminating against people seeking methadone treatment by denying a permit for the clinic, which proposed to provide outpatient substance abuse treatment, including methadone and other medications, as well as counseling to people suffering from opioid addiction.

As part of a settlement, Concord must pay the group $120,000, according to court documents. The clinic in turn will have to abide by a “security plan” that includes hiring a licensed security guard to monitor the treatment area and adjacent parking lot, prohibiting patients from loitering outside and providing them a designated waiting area inside.

While the clinic’s operating hours are expected to be from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the week and 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekends, the security plan also forbids the clinic from being open past 9 p.m.

The settlement also requires BAART to identify employees who can act as a liaison with local residents and businesses and participate in regular meetings with the police department. The clinic will have to set up a mechanism — such as a hotline or online portal — to receive feedback and complaints from the public and to host a public open house before it begins operating.

“The City is confident that the required operating conditions, federal oversight, and availability of an effective and well-run treatment center will emphasize Concord’s goal of being a place where families come first,” says a written statement issued by the city, noting that a federal judge will oversee BAART’s compliance with the conditions.

BAART’s effort to open the clinic in Concord began in May 2015 when it sent a letter to the city’s Economic Development Department stating its intention to build a rehab and methadone treatment facility on Parkside Drive. What followed was a long, sometimes contentious process.

The main issue was whether the methadone treatment center should be classified as a medical clinic, a medical office or a social service facility.

The city’s Economic Development Department originally classified the center as a medical office, an allowed use at the site, but city staff later concluded it should be classified as a medical clinic, which isn’t allowed in that zoning district.

BAART consequently identified another site, in Solano Plaza near Highway 242, and signed a lease in October 2017.

The next month, as residents were expressing concern about having a treatment center set up in their neighborhood, Community and Economic Development Director Andrea Ouse designated the clinic as a social service facility, a use that requires an additional administrative permit.

BAART sued the city in August, alleging its decision to change the designation was motivated by the clinic’s intended use as a treatment center for people with substance disorders. It argued the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and California civil rights laws, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act, by reclassifying the clinic. Under the ADA, patients seeking care at methadone clinics are considered to have a disability.

BAART operates two other methadone clinics in Contra Costa County — one in Richmond and another in Antioch.

A Contra Costa Civil Grand Jury report last year found there were not enough resources in the county to treat people addicted to opioids. It cited research from the Urban Institute and county healthcare officials that showed in 2015 and 2016 an estimated 54,000 county residents suffered from opioid use disorder.

Last May, Contra Costa joined dozens of other California counties in suing pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors for their alleged role in creating a widespread opioid epidemic.

That lawsuit claimed the opioid epidemic “is particularly devastating” in the county. Citing information from the California Department of Public Health, the lawsuit says that in 2016, Contra Costa County saw 53 deaths from opioids, up from 49 in 2015. In 2014, 50 people died from opioid overdoses and 42 people died in 2013.

March 1, 2019

East Bay Times

By Annie Sciacca