A company that tried to open a drug treatment program on Main Street is threatening to file a lawsuit against Ansonia unless the city coughs up about $532,000.
The Recovery Network of Programs tried to open a clinic at 158 Main St. in 2010, downstairs from the Valley Indy.
The clinic would have been called the “Center for Human Services” and would have helped local people addicted to drugs such as heroin and prescription painkillers.
The clinic couldn’t get a building permit, company officials said.
Ansonia officials pointed to a section of the city’s zoning rules that barred “clinics for the insane, alcoholics and drug addicts.”
Using discriminatory, outdated language such as that to prevent the drug clinic from opening on Main Street wasn’t good public policy.
The U.S. Department of Justice got wind of it and convinced Ansonia to remove the discriminatory language and to promise not to “retaliate against the Recovery Network of Programs.”
The agreement with the DOJ prevented the federal government from filing a lawsuit against Ansonia.
After the DOJ intervention, the company’s chief executive officer repeatedly said they would open in Ansonia, but Tonino Mavuli, the landlord at 158 Main St., said the space was no longer available.
Employees of the Recovery Network of Programs now say they have been hurt financially by the city’s actions, according to a July 24 letter to Ansonia corporation counsel Kevin Blake from Steven G. Polin, a lawyer representing the clinic.
“As a result of enforcement of the illegal ordinance against RNP (Recovery Network of Programs) and refusal to issue a building permit, the lease … was terminated,” Polin states in his letter.
“RNP was also required to divert valuable resources in its attempt to combat the Town’s exclusionary zoning ordinance. RNP had been damaged by the Town’s actions and damages continue to accrue,” Polin states. “RNP is demanding payment in the amount of $532,580 in damages and lost revenues as a result of the Town’s discriminatory actions.”
Polin gave Ansonia until Aug. 1 to respond to his letter and avoid a lawsuit. In an interview Tuesday, Polin said he hasn’t received an official response from the city. No lawsuits have been filed.
Blake, the city’s lawyer, was scheduled to brief elected officials on the issue during an executive session of the Ansonia Aldermen on Aug. 14.
The Valley Indy called Blake for comment Tuesday but didn’t hear back.
Gene Sharkey, the president of the Ansonia Board of Aldermen, said elected officials are aware of the letter.
“We’re quite comfortable in our position. They are not allowed to open a clinic like that on Main Street. We did not discriminate, it is simply not allowed there,” Sharkey said.
The Alderman said elected officials are waiting on the clinic’s next move.
Polin’s letter is posted below.
