SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Plans for a controversial drug treatment center in South Burlington are moving forward.
It's supposed to open near two schools and the school district had fought to stop that. But on Friday the city's Development Review Board gave the okay.
The Howard Center, which will run the methadone clinic, says it's pleased by the news.
Methadone is a drug used to treat people addicted to opioids including prescription drugs.
The Howard Center wants to open the clinic in a medical complex which is not far from a high school and middle school in South Burlington.
The school district had argued that the clinic and its patients could be a danger for students. It appealed the center's request to remodel the office space.
The city's Development Review Board rejected the appeal and says safety can not be considered.
The Howard Center says the clinic will not create problems. It says the bigger space allows them to help more people and shorten the waiting list which can top 600 people.
"It's a significant number of people and the challenge obviously is to try and get those people into treatment as quickly as we can," says Bob Bick, Howard Center Director of Substance Abuse Services.
The Howard Center says it wants to move forward with renovations and it could take a couple months to open the clinic.
That of course depends on whether the school district appeals the decision.
We could not reach the district or its attorney to find out whether it will do that.
