By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Methadone clinics would be squeezed out of most neighborhoods under a licensing plan being drawn up by the city.

The plan would combine Lewiston’s licensing rules and zoning codes to regulate the addiction treatment clinics.

“The one thing we cannot do is write our rules in such a way that they cannot locate anywhere in town,” City Administrator Jim Bennett said Tuesday. But his plan would leave very little of the city open to the clinics.

The plan, as currently proposed, would allow clinics in the Lincoln Street area, scattered blocks downtown and outer Main, Lisbon and Sabattus streets.

“At the very least, we feel this is a fair policy, grounded in state and federal precedent,” Bennett said.

Methadone is used to treat addiction to opioid drugs, like heroin or OxyContin. Communities across the state, including Auburn, Lewiston and towns in western Maine’s Oxford Hills, adopted temporary bans on the facilities last year, saying they attract drug users, drug dealers and crime.

Lewiston’s ban is set to expire in May.

Heroin and opioid drugs are not a problem in Lewiston now, Bennett said. He doubts there is much of a demand for a Lewiston clinic.

“But our current zoning codes would allow them to locate in many parts of the city,” Bennett said. “We need to be prepared.”

First, the city would ban the clinics from locating within 1,000 feet of any school, public library, park, place of worship or child care facility with more than three children.

Next, the city would ban them from either the Western or Southern gateways or along Lisbon Street where the city plans to promote retail development.

Finally, they’d only be allowed in zoning districts that allow medical clinics now.

Those three requirements leave very little real estate.

Next, clinics would face a stiff licensing process. They’d have to prove to staff they planned to locate in an acceptable area before passing a zoning review by the Planning Board. The proposed clinic would go to the City Council for two public hearings and need to be approved before any license could be issued.

Planning Board member Tom Peters worried that might be too many requirements.

“We have to be clear that we are not trying to keep them out, legally,” Peters said. “I’m concerned that if we have too many hoops, it could be ruled invalid by the courts.”

Bennett said he wants to make sure the plan is legal. If city attorneys say it works, he plans to present it to city Planning Board and City Council in February and March. He hopes to have it adopted by May, when the city moratorium ends.