Mayfair and Holmesburg remain relatively stable communities in Philadelphia’s greatest section, the Great Northeast, so it should come as no surprise that the good folks who live and do business there — and the politicians who represent them — are coming out of the woodwork to prevent the area from becoming a magnet for drug addicts.
An agency called Healing Way wants to open a methadone clinic on the 7900 block of Frankford Ave. and has a lease with the property owner, a local real estate broker.
But foes of the planned drug clinic — including the Realtor, who wants to break the lease and should have bothered to ask a few important questions before agreeing to lease the site to the clinic in the first place — want nothing of the sort in the area, and they are 100 percent right.
To supplement vigorous opposition to the drug clinic demonstrated at community rallies and intervention by state officials to kill the plan, the building owner should take Healing Way to court, if necessary, to cancel the lease. If Healing Way doesn’t come to its senses by withdrawing its plan, opponents should pack a scheduled Aug. 31 hearing at the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The community’s voice was heard two years ago in Bustleton when residents blocked a methadone clinic from opening near Roosevelt Boulevard and Grant Avenue, and the community’s voice should prevail again. Northeast Philly should never be forced to accept an influx of undesirables.
When truly united and outspoken, the people will never be defeated.
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