LEWISTON — City councilors narrowly approved a Mollison Way methadone clinic Tuesday night.

The vote clears the way for the Merrimack River Medical Services clinic to begin applying for state and federal licenses. 

Matt Davis, chief executive officer of the Massachusetts-based Community Substance Abuse Centers, said he expected to have those licenses settled and to begin moving into the 18 Mollison Way space within about four months.

“Now we can start working on our final design and begin our networking process,” Davis said. “So we’ll be working on the build-out, picking out who’s going to do that.”

With Ward 2 Councilor Renee Bernier abstaining from the vote — her company Ace Security provides security for the Portland branch of the clinic — councilors initially voted in a tie. John Butler, Ron Jean and Tina O’Connell voted to approve the clinic while Larry Poulin, Mark Cayer and Stephen Morgan voted against it.

Mayor Larry Gilbert broke the 3-3 tie, in favor of the clinic.

Poulin, echoing two of the neighbors who spoke Tuesday, said the clinic’s proposed location might meet a strict interpretation of the city’s rules but not the spirit. The clinic will move into space behind Sparetime Recreation, about 600 feet from the door of the Pediatric Associates clinic.

“From all the comments the public has made, this is an area that’s frequented by a lot of kids,” Poulin said. “They move up and down that road. Particularly for me, it violates the location criteria for Pediatric Associates.”

Lewiston requires substance-abuse treatment centers to get business licenses from the city. Licenses must be approved by the City Council, which reviews those licenses every year. The ordinance allows substance-abuse treatment centers to be built as long as they are a minimum of 1,000 feet from churches, schools, parks or day care centers or facilities. It also limits them certain zoning districts.

The city does not specifically prohibit the clinics from being located near pediatric clinics or recreation centers, but Poulin said that might as well have been the intent.

“When I look at this part of the ordinance, it says ‘other locations where children and other young adults may frequent,'” Poulin said. “I believe a pediatrician’s office qualifies for that. For that reason, I believe it violates the location criteria.”

Councilors adopted a strict list of nine additional requirements: The clinic must provide enough space to keep clients from lining up outside its doors; it must monitor the exterior to make sure clients don’t linger and invite the city and neighbors in to view the facility within 90 days of opening. The clinic has to put an alarm on all emergency exits leading to shared space in the building, follow professional treatment protocols, limit the number of patients to 500 and provide copies of all federal and state licenses to the city clerk. 

The clinic also must meet with the chief of police twice a year and come back annually for a City Council review.

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