Residents and business owners on or near South Church Street in Belleville don’t want a methadone clinic in their neighbourhood.
On Monday, the city’s Planning Advisory Committee will see an application asking for rezoning for a commercial building at 125 South Church Street just south of Dundas East to allow a methadone clinic.
The applicant is Myers Creek Development Group.
Very recently, Mayor Panciuk announced that the Ontario Addictions Treatment Centre located in downtown Belleville would be moved elsewhere as it hindered business and wasn’t helping the downtown revitalization project.
However, the planning committee will see letters from two businesses near 125 South Church Street and they do not want a methadone clinic near them either.
The owner of an allergy clinic, Dr. Belda, worries about staff and patient safety, writing it is only a matter of time before break-ins will occur at his clinic and at a nearby pharmacy.
The doctor writes that the mayor is simply sending “the aggravation to another neighbourhood”.
The owners of Belleville Sport and Lawn also object to the rezoning as do some residents worried about garbage, crime, and property values.
Monday’s meeting will be the first on the issue and a staff report with a recommendation on the rezoning will come to a future meeting for a decision.
