MADISON — The company that had proposed opening an addiction treatment clinic in the center of town is moving ahead with a new location that would comply with an ordinance voters enacted last year, town officials said Monday.

Jake Laws

Madison Town Manager Denise Ducharme told the town’s Select Board that representatives of Acadia Healthcare recently contacted her to begin the process of applying for a license for a clinic under the town’s new ordinance.

Acadia, a for-profit behavioral health care provider headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, is looking to open its facility at the animal medical clinic building in the Madison Business Gateway business park off Route 148, Ducharme said.

An Acadia Healthcare spokesperson confirmed Tuesday the company plans to buy the building and open its treatment center there. The company does not yet have a timeline for when it would open.

Town officials had been aware that Acadia was considering the site when voters passed the Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs Ordinance at a special town meeting in October 2024.

The town developed the ordinance in response to public backlash to Acadia’s initial plans to open a clinic at the former Taylor’s Drug Store at 2 Old Point Ave., which it was under contract to purchase. More than 200 residents signed a petition last spring, asking the town and Acadia to reconsider the central location in Madison.

Acadia was planning to open a Comprehensive Treatment Center, offering several services to include medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorder, a company representative said at a Select Board meeting in April 2024.

Jake Laws

Treatment would include the administration of methadone and Suboxone, a combination medication containing buprenorphine and naloxone. The drugs are controlled substances that are used widely to treat opioid addiction in adults.

Those opposed to the clinic were concerned about the impact of it being at a major intersection near schools and businesses.

At the annual town meeting in June 2024, Madison residents, by a vote of 179 to 9, passed a 180-day moratorium that prohibited the opening of facilities that dispense controlled substances to give town officials time to develop the restrictive ordinance.

Under the approved ordinance, Chapter 170, such programs can only be located on the eastern side of the Madison Business Gateway and on the 2 1/2-mile stretch of U.S. Route 201 between White School House Road and the Skowhegan line. On U.S. Route 201, the facility would need to be at least 500 feet from neighboring structures.

It also outlines the information the applicant must submit to the town for review. That includes a site plan and descriptions of population served, services, staffing, security, hours of operation, parking, traffic impacts and other required licenses.

Ducharme said Monday that the application for Acadia would likely be based on the requirements spelled out in the ordinance, though it is possible the town will ask for more information.

Select Board members briefly discussed what to charge as an application fee, which is not specified in the ordinance. They decided more research of other municipalities is needed.

“I don’t think $1,000 is out of the question,” Ducharme said.

Once Acadia submits an application to the town, Code Enforcement Officer Jeffery Drew will determine if it needs Planning Board approval first or if it can go directly to the Select Board to review, Ducharme said. That depends on whether Acadia’s plans constitute a change in use, Drew said.

Select Board Chair Albert Veneziano said the process will not be quick, as it involves several steps, including public hearings.

“They are under a bit of a time crunch … however, this is the first notification that we got that they were looking for the application,” Ducharme said. “So, they’re just going to have to play by our timeline.”

Drew said he would work with Acadia to get their plans approved.

“They did us a good justice by leaving the corner down here,” Select Board member Ron Moody said to Drew. “They really got an earful of how the townspeople thought about it. And I hope we can help them out as much as we can to get them established.”

Acadia has six similar treatment centers in Maine, according to its website. They are in South Portland, Rumford, Waterville, Bangor, Calais and Presque Isle.

Nationwide, Acadia operates 262 treatment facilities across 39 states, its website says.

The company chose Madison for the site of a new center because about 250 of its Waterville clinic patients live in Somerset County and 150 live in Madison, said Adrienne Sass, Acadia’s regional director for its clinics in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, at an April 2024 Select Board meeting.

State officials also asked for a service like Acadia’s in Somerset County, she said then.

Sass said she could not speak to why Acadia initially selected the Old Point Avenue property, but said the company generally considers several factors.

Town officials also considered buying the building last year but ultimately decided against pursuing the purchase.