Dozens of concerned parents armed with signs and many questions formed a line in front of Lynnwood City Hall to protest a planned opioid treatment center that was under discussion at the Jan. 3 city council meeting.

Key issues under scrutiny during the Jan. 3 meeting were the location’s proximity to the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club and a lack of transparency about the project. Protesters and councilmembers alike had a number of questions for Acadia Healthcare, the health provider that will operate the facility. The center, now in Bothell, is set to be relocated to 2322 196th St. S.W. in Lynnwood – a location near the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club.

Acadia has already acquired a 10-year lease for the building, and the center is scheduled to open at the end of January. It will provide methadone treatment, which is highly regulated.

Questions were also directed to Washington State’s Department of Health (DOH), which regulates the facility, as well as Lynnwood city councilmembers and staff from the city’s development and business services and police departments.

More than two hours into the four-hour meeting, all other agenda items were rescheduled for discussion at a later date.

Acadia made a presentation on the project to provide context prior to the council’s discussion. Councilmembers said that they had also been in the dark on this project, having learned about the treatment facility’s plans Dec. 12 — just before the public hearing scheduled between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Dan Hymas, Acadia’s regional vice president, explained that the program was moving from its Bothell location to Lynnwood because the company’s lease was not renewed. Acacia chose Lynnwood because there was a need in the area, he said, adding that the location was within five miles of where 100 existing patients live. Hymas also noted that while Snohomish County makes up 10% of Washington’s population, it is responsible for 18% of the state’s heroin-related deaths.

Addressing safety and community concerns, Hymas stated that the company would be willing to hire a security guard to patrol the area.

When public comment began, one of the first to speak was Vivian Dong, a mother who lives close to the site. A frequent visitor to the nearby Alderwood Boys and Girls Club, Dong was a key organizer of the Jan. 3 protest.

“This is on the border between Lynnwood and (unincorporated) Snohomish County,” Dong said. “Basically, there will be no (Lynnwood Police Department) jurisdiction to protect Lynnwood residents if patients just walk outside the border,” said Dong, holding up a map of the area. Dong, like many, made note of the nearby Boys and Girls club, which is situated less than 500 feet away.

The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office provides public safety services for the county’s unincorporated areas..

“My husband and I have a combined 70 years of teaching,” said Kristi Alexander, an educator and grandparent who lives in unincorporated Snohomish County. “A Boys and Girls Club draws a lot of people, lot of kids, many, many of whom are at high risk… don’t you feel that’s ironic?”

Although the majority of people speaking during the meeting were opposed to the center, some defended it, citing the need for such treatment during the current opioid epidemic.

“There’s a lot of concern that I hear in this group about the people going to this outpatient clinic,” said Caroline Judd, a licensed social worker who has worked as a substance abuse counselor. “What people have to do who are getting substance use and opioid services is, they have to go every single day to this clinic, they have to get there at the crack of dawn, take a bus, sometimes for multiple hours… to receive one single pill of methadone… so that they do not go through severe, life-altering withdrawal symptoms.

“These are people like you and me, in this room and I’m heartbroken to hear the way that we’re talking about these individuals,” she continued. “They’re individuals striving for their families, to have jobs, to keep their children.”

Many people speaking at the meeting stressed that the clinic location was their primary issue rather the presence of the facility in Lynnwood itself.

“I also want to address that there’s so many valid concerns on both sides,” said Arra Rael, a member of Lynnwood’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission who said she was speaking as a community member and not representing the commission. “What I’m hoping for is that the department of health and Acadia to put those patients first. They deserve privacy. They deserve a facility that isn’t just hobbled together and squeezed under in between city council sessions.”

Councilmembers then began their questioning, starting with Shannon Sessions.

“I see it directly in my work, every day, several times a day, opioid overdoses and deaths, daily in Southwest Snohomish County,” said Sessions, who serves as executive director of Support 7, which supports victims of trauma. While such treatment centers are needed, she added, “this cannot be next to the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club.”

Councilmember Patrick Decker started his remarks by acknowledging the large Asian population in the room with a brief statement in spoken in Mandarin, then went on to criticize Acadia.

“This is about big pharmaceutical and big business taking advantage of Lynnwood for profit,” Decker said. “This, to me, is a continuation of efforts to Seattle-ize and Portland-ize South Snohomish County,” he added, drawing applause from the audience.

Decker then attacked Acadia’s status as a for-profit business, citing the company’s revenue of $666 million  in the third quarter of 2022.

“They operate at 49.3% gross margin. Do you know what the industry average is? 35%,” Decker said. “They have a $7.5  billion valuation.”

Julieta Altamirano-Crosby followed Decker with a request to visit Acadia’s other facilities for herself to evaluate them from a safety perspective. Altamirano-Crosby also echoed concerns about the council’s lack of knowledge and the overall lack of communication about the project, and ended with a request for statistics about the clinics and surrounding areas.

Councilmember Josh Binda also briefly spoke about the need for better communication in the future. He also reinforced the perspective shared by some public commenters that it was important to focus on the needs of people receiving these treatments.

“There’s a lot of fear and demonizing of these people,” Binda said. “From what I’ve heard, there are 100 people in a five-mile radius that need this help in our city. They are your neighbors. They are your neighbor’s children.” He also acknowledged the council’s inability to change the location and stated that — given the situation –the community and Acadia needed to work together to address issues as they occur.

Councilmember Jim Smith then raised the possibility of the council legislating the number of people permitted to visit the facility.

“Lynnwood has gone through this before,” Smith said. “I remember when a facility was going to go in over on the east side of Alderwood Mall. One thing that we were allowed to do was limit the amount of patients that [attended].” Smith said, then asked DOH officials present at the meeting what the city could do to control the center.

Julie Tomaro, DOH facilities program manager, cited a law indicating that if specific local conditions were met, it might be possible to limit clinic admittance.

Smith then attempted to establish a timeline of events to pinpoint where and with whom the miscommunication occurred. The councilmember asked Hymas about Acadia’s process to acquire the property and open the business. Hymas replied that  city building officials were contacted in March, the same month that the 10-year lease was acquired, and that the company applied building permits in June.

That led Council President George Hurst to question the purpose of the Dec. 29 public hearing, which was hosted by the state health department.

“I know it fulfills a [legal requirement ], that’s just great but what is really the purpose of the public hearing, especially a public hearing that is held about a month before a site is occupied?” Hurst asked.

In response, Ian Corbridge, the DOH office director for community health systems, stated that the department acted according to state law.

Hurst then continued to press, asking whether the public hearing would have any impact on the health department’s decision.

“I think, as councilmembers noted earlier, we do appreciate all the feedback that is provided and it is feedback that we will reflect on as we, as a state agency, make decision-making around licensing,” Corbridge said. “I can’t speak to the specifics of this case or questions or comments that we receive,” said Corbridge. Corbridge’s colleague Julie Tomaro added that the public hearing also allowed the department to followup on any concerns related to licensing requirement violations .

After a short recess, councilmembers got into the details of how various city departments were involved in reviewing plans for the treatment center, including the city’s department of development and business services. Department Director David Kleitsch stated that the department’s function was to ensure the building was zoned for medical purposes and that it followed other zoning regulations. Because the building didn’t violate any zoning laws, it was approved in March. Lynnwood received the business application to move locations from Bothell to Lynnwood in June and issued the building permit in July.

When asked by Hurst why the development department decided not to contact the mayor about the treatment center, Kleitsch stated that the department was not responsible for outreach and Acadia was to be responsible for its own outreach program.

Lynnwood Police Sgt. Lindsay Carter and Deputy Chief Cole Langdon also appeared before the council. Langdon said that Acadia Regional Director Nicole Smith-Matthews emailed the Lynnwood police department’s outreach program in September, stating that Acadia would be relocating a clinic from Bothell to Lynnwood. Langdon noted that the email did not specify that the facility would be a methadone clinic.

Carter, the sole employee of Lynnwood PD’s Community Health and Safety Section, responded to the email, mentioning work that the section does, such as reaching out to people who are homeless and offering detox services.

Carter received a response Nov. 14 inquiring if the department had any current outreach partners and that, if the department had time in the upcoming months, Acadia would like to meet and discuss ways to help with community outreach. The two emails were the only communication Acadia had with the police department, police said.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell told the council that although Acadia listed Carter under the section of the application entitled “Work with the authorities to develop a community relations plan,” no plan had actually been developed.

Ken Salem, area director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Snohomish County and previous manager of the Alderwood location, stated that the club also had not been contacted by Acadia.

“The ethics of Acadia are so clearly in question… It’s a little frightening,” said Salem.

Rebecca Miner, Edmonds School District interim superintendent, also weighed in, stating that someone on a district phone line had received a single voicemail from Acadia in October but she had not been notified about it.

State Rep. Lauren Davis, who represents Lynnwood’s 32nd District, joined the meeting by Zoom to express support for the facility. Davis said that although Snohomish County had over 830,000 residents, the county only had two opioid treatment programs that can distribute this specific type of medication since it is a highly controlled substance. The other facilities are located in Everett and Arlington, so the Lynnwood location would be the only one accessible to South Snohomish County.

Davis also said she had attended other similar public meetings and “the refrain is always identical. ‘We support treatment, but just not here.’”

“I promise you that you could not find a location in the city of Lynnwood where you would not have the same outcry because no matter where you locate this particular facility, you will have individuals say ‘Not in my backyard. We want treatment, but please not here,’” Davis said. “There is no such location in the city that would be exempt from that.”

The council also heard from Acadia representative Smith-Matthews regarding the development of a community outreach plan – required by the DOH – that city officials said wasn’t properly filled out. Representatives with Acadia stated that the form was meant to be updated as time passed, and Smith-Matthews stated that she had revised the form since its submission to the DOH.

DOH Executive Director John Williams restated the department was appreciative of the conversation with the council and the community. Although Acadia must meet certain DOH requirements to receive a license, there is no required timeline for completing them, he said.

Councilmember Sutton replied that this requirement had not been met when Acadia submitted an incomplete outreach plan.

“So, you think that, according to that [state law], that Acadia’s done everything they need to do and that this should move forward?” Sutton asked.

“I think that there are several things that are still in process,” Williams said. “We can’t move forward until we get that confirmation that the agency has met all the city and land-use requirements.”

The meeting ended with an agreement from councilmembers to discuss the issue further in an executive session, during which they would consider their legal options.

— Story and photos by Jasmine Contreras-Lewis