Title
AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING MODERNIZING ACCESS TO TREATMENT SERVICES for the purpose of defining State-licensed medical clinics as a new principal use type; establishing the zones in which this new use type is permitted, as shown on the principal use tables; setting forth conditions under which this new principal use may be approved; establishing off-street parking requirements for this new use type; amending the description of the Health Care Uses principal use category; amending the definition of Medical facility; and removing Methadone treatment center as a principal use type.
Background
To address the urgent need for treatment services within the County, this bill amends the Zoning Ordinance to add a new principal use type, opioid treatment centers, and sets forth development application requirements for these centers. This bill codifies the provisions of a companion emergency resolution titled “A Resolution concerning Zoning Ordinance - Use Regulations - Preserving Access to Opioid Treatment Services.”
The County continues to face the effects of a nationwide opioid crisis, which has been determined to be a public health emergency by the federal Department of Health & Human Services. Prince George’s County recently ranked third among counties in Maryland for fatal opioid overdoes, and a statewide assessment of treatment programs found that programs available in the County meet only a fraction of the need. The County has only one licensed and certified opioid treatment facility (per the Maryland Department of Health) and the County Health Department announced it will no longer provide Medication Assisted Treatment Services after March 2025.
To address the urgent need for treatment service capacity in the County, this bill approves a new use type and permits this new use type by right in certain nonresidential zones. Development applications for this new use type must demonstrate that certain conditions have been met, but unlike the existing “Methado...
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