Peekskill Methadone Clinic Approved by Planning Commission

An Elmsford based drug rehabilitation company, The Renaissance Project, is working to combine the  current methadone maintenance center and the Renaissance Project's outpatient therapy program currently run out of Peekskill's , into the one location at 3 Corporate Drive in Peekskill. The new location will become the only methadone treatment center in Northern Westchester, according to Renaissance Project CEO Wiliam Magwood.

The Peekskill Planning Commission gave Magwood final site plan approval for the location during Tuesday night’s council meeting.

The center, funded by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, will administer methadone treatments to about 250 patients daily and provide group therapy sessions for those and another 30 patients who currently go to therapy at Jan Peek. The center would also help with job searches and give medical examinations when required, Magwood said. About 15 staff members from Jan Peek and the HVHC, where their programs have been running for decades, would move over to the Renaissance Project. The state and county requested Renaissance to combine the two programs, Magwood said.

“Our intent is to keep the current staff together so their expertise and relationships already in place stay in tact,” Magwood said, adding that the current staff already knows all the rules and regulations.  

The plan to convert 3 Corporate Drive, an 8,000 square foot building located in one of Peekskill’s General Industrial Districts that has sat empty for more than 12 years, first came to the Planning Commission in February.

Most construction will be done to the interior of the building, but the company will also do some landscaping, add parking, a bike rack and a public walking path behind the property.

The center will dispense drugs through the program from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and then therapy sessions are available until the center will close at 7 p.m., Magwood said.

“About half of our patients are employed so they come in early before work,” Magwood said.

“To us it was out of the way,” Magwood said of his decision to move to Corporate Drive. “We didn’t want to be in middle of residential or business areas. We wanted to be somewhere where we can get clients in and out without disturbing the community.”

Magwood has worked with the planning department and local police to ensure the proper security will be in place-there will be methadone stored in safes on location. They plan to hire two security guards to work during operating hours and will have electronic security functioning during on and off hours.

“We’ve worked with applicant, required them to sit down with police chief to coordinate activities, they have a contract with a private biomedical waste (company, for disposal), and they are licensed by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse,” said Director of City Planning Anthony Ruggiero.

Magwood will now issue a request for a proposal, file for the building permit, and select a bid based on state laws. He hopes to open the new center in the next six months.

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What do you think of the plan to combine the methadone maintenance program and therpay clinic in one location on Corporate Drive?