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Ellsworth planning board tables Everest Recovery opioid-treatment proposal pending legal review
Summary
The Ellsworth Planning Board on March 31 tabled Everest Recovery’s application to convert a 5,500 sq ft building at 190 Bangor Road into an outpatient opioid treatment center while the city attorney researches whether local ordinance performance standards for OTPs are lawful and whether waivers are possible without undermining the ordinance’s intent.
The Ellsworth Planning Board on March 31 voted to table an application from Everest Recovery Centers Main LLC to renovate a 5,500-square-foot building at 190 Bangor Road into an outpatient opioid treatment center, saying the city attorney needs more time to review whether local ordinance requirements that appear to govern opioid treatment programs (OTPs) are lawful.
Attorney John Podle, representing Everest Recovery, told the board the company had obtained building permits and begun renovation work but paused at staff’s request while the town determines whether a conditional-use review is required. Podle asked the board to continue the application to allow the city and the applicant time to resolve interpretive questions and “formulate whether or not there does need to be a conditional use process.”
City Attorney Tim Peas told the board he had reviewed Chapter 56 and related cross-references (citing a local provision that references federal registration under 21 U.S.C. §823) and found the ordinance includes a provision that appears to require OTPs to be on an acute-care hospital main campus, allow only one OTP per acute-care hospital and limit patient loads (historically phrased as 30 patients). Peas said a 2022 statutory relettering (references in the transcript to A23G/H) and local drafting history complicate interpretation and raised constitutional concerns about singling out OTPs; he recommended more research before the board or council considers changing the ordinance or issuing waivers.
“Before we just say, ‘let’s change the ordinance to make it refer to A23H,’ I think we need to dig a little deeper and find out whether this is an appropriate performance standard,” Peas said, urging more time for legal analysis.
Podle and Everest CEO Peter Morris agreed to the continuance. Podle said the applicant expects to provide additional information and coordinate with the city; Morris told the board Everest has already begun demolition and renovation work and that the project is at a standstill while the parties clarify requirements.
At the public hearing, Keith Smith of Melworth spoke in support of the application and said access to methadone and other OTP services is constrained for local residents who now must travel to Bangor. “I can tell you anecdotally the need in Ellsworth is far greater than 30,” Smith said.
Board members asked staff and the applicant to gather data on local need, clarify whether the local cap had been interpreted as 30 or 60 in recent applications, and confirm trip-generation and parking impacts if the facility proceeds. Staff noted the ordinance’s change-of-use language treats many medical/treatment uses as commercial for zoning purposes and suggested applicants prepare typical planning materials (parking, traffic, signage, screening) if the board proceeds with a formal review.
Outcome and next steps: The board moved, seconded and voted to table/continue the Everest Recovery conditional-use application while the city attorney and staff complete legal and interpretive work and coordinate with the applicant; the transcript records the motion and board assent but does not include a roll-call tally. The applicant and city counsel will confer and the matter is expected to return to the board with an update.
