LEWISTON — A methadone clinic’s application to locate on Mollison Way fits all the city’s zoning criteria, according a unanimous Planning Board vote Monday night.

But some members said it might not fit with the neighborhood itself.

“I agree that this is a child-rich area and although it meets the criteria, we should probably evaluate the criteria itself,” member Michael Marcotte said. “There is a pediatric facility in close proximity and a bowling alley-recreation facility. I will be voting in the affirmative, but I can’t say I like it.”

Massachusetts-based Community Substance Abuse Centers application to locate the first ever Lewiston-based methadone substance abuse clinic at 18 Mollison Way passed the Planning Board by 6-0 vote Monday.

Now the application for the Merrimack River Medical Services Clinic goes to the City Council for two public hearings. Planning and Code Enforcement Director Gil Arsenault said the first meeting could be scheduled as early as March 15.

“This is sort of an awkward process tonight because the Planning Board is only looking at this much,” Arsenault said. “When it goes to the council, that’s where Merrimack is actually going to talk about their programs, their security and their parking lots.”

If approved, the clinic will take first floor space in the same building as the Spare-time Recreation bowling alley.

Methadone is used to treat addiction to opioid drugs, like heroin or OxyContin. The company operates 12 clinics in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and a 13th at 2300 Congress St. in Portland.

Members of the Planning Board had one straightforward task Monday: determining if the company’s application fits Lewiston’s zoning. They agreed that it did.

Lewiston requires substance-abuse treatment centers to get a business license from the city. That license must be approved by the City Council and is then reviewed annually by the City Council. 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 to certain zoning districts.

Planner Mike Gotto of Stonybrook Associates of Turner, representing the company, said there were real-world  restrictions, as well. The company doesn’t want to build a new building, preferring to move into a space that’s already standing. It also wants the clinic located on the Lewiston-Auburn bus route.

According to the city’s rules, the clinic could only be located in seven parcels and only two were on the bus route — the Mollison Way space and the area around Main and Russell streets.

“I understand that folks would like us to be in other places, but with the ordinance that we had, it was not easy to locate a facility,” Gotto said. “They have looked since 2007 and they’ve had a difficult time. And this is why.”

According to the company’s application, it plans to use 6,224 square feet of first-floor space in the 18 Mollison Way building. That first floor is shared by the bowling alley, which takes up 19,536 square feet, a 6,480 square foot vacant area and a 13,000 vacant area. The building has another 13,240 square feet of vacant space on the second floor.

If approved by the city and by state and federal medical licensing agencies, the center would be able to treat up to 500 patients and would employee between 15 and 18 people. The center would be open from 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, distributing medicine until 11 a.m. The rest of the days would be devoted to counseling and treatment assessments.

The center would also be open from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays to distribute medicine and for group counseling.

staylor@sunjournal.com