Berwyn City Council members revoked their approval Tuesday of a methadone clinic planned for the city’s Depot District.

The move came less than a week after hundreds of residents protested the council’s earlier vote to approve the clinic, which would administer methadone to people addicted to opiates, particularly heroin. All four alderman who previously had approved the clinic reversed their votes Tuesday, despite the likelihood the vote would result in an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the city.

“The residents have been heard, and I will vote against the clinic,” 1st Ward Alderman Nona Chapman said. “Even though it may incur thousands of dollars in legal fees, it will be done.”

Three aldermen, including attorney and 7th Ward Alderman Robert Lovero, said that knowing a denial of the clinic could make the city vulnerable to a lawsuit influenced their original decision.

“My legal brain outweighed my aldermanic heart and led to a vote that clearly did not (match) the views of the rest of the city,” Lovero said.

Sal Sottile, who operates the clinic with Elizabeth Buonauro, said he was upset but not surprised by the meeting’s outcome.

“It’s about what we expected,” Sottile said, adding the clinic does plan to sue the city.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

The clinic won approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals in March. In April, the city council voted 4-4 on whether to approve the clinic before Mayor Michael O’Connor broke the tie and voted against it. The measure came before the council again July 8, and the same four members voted in favor of the clinic. Fifth Ward Alderman Tom Day and 2nd Ward Alderman Jim Ramos were not present at the July 8 meeting, and the clinic won final approval.

Shortly after, Mayor Michael O’Connor held a town meeting to allow aldermen to hear what residents thought about the clinic.

An estimated 400 people attended the meeting and decried the council’s approval of the clinic. The Depot District, where the proposed clinic would be located, is a family-oriented business area, residents argued.

The aldermen then promised to reverse their decision.

Also Tuesday, the council unanimously approved a measure to put a nonbinding referendum question on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Voters will be asked whether the city should regulate where medical clinics are allowed in Berwyn and would give the council the go-ahead to monitor the locations of all medical clinics, including those providing methadone.

“This referendum gives you the chance in November to tell us ‘Yes, we want medical clinics to be regulated,’” Skryd said.

Several residents in the packed council chambers said they were upset the referendum did not include an outright ban on methadone clinics.

The aldermen said the city is not legally allowed to target methadone clinics and, as such, the referendum refers only to medical clinics.

“If they’re doing the best they can to stop this, then that’s great,” resident Janice Keen said. “But the reality is there needs to be a state law.”