The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that allows a methadone clinic to operate in South Burlington.
The HowardCenter opened a treatment center last year on Dorset Street, not far from South Burlington Middle and High schools. The school district argued that the clinic represented a change of use and appealed to Environmental Court, which ruled that the clinic was operating within its permits.
The school district then appealed to the high court, which issued its ruling Friday.
“To be sure, a substance-abuse or other free-standing clinic engaged in counseling without the extensive on-site medical personnel and treatment protocols provided by the Howard Center clinic might present a different question,” Associate Justice Marilyn Skoglund wrote in her opinion. “As other courts in similar circumstances have concluded, however, the comprehensive methadone treatment provided by the clinic at issue here plainly constitutes a permitted medical-office use within the district, and did not require site-plan or conditional-use review under the Regulations.”
