So, why hasn’t the APT Foundation treatment center at 439 Boston Post Road opened yet?

At the Q&A session with APT CEO Lynn Madden at the Guilford Community Center on Feb. 27, Madden said she expected the clinic to open in August. Shortly after this, multiple contractors worked daily at 439 Boston Post Road to renovate the former Play Café. Construction was completed by late June, so why hasn’t the clinic opened yet?

To recap, Guilford First Selectman Matt Hoey met with Madden in his office in mid-March 2023. At this meeting, Hoey expressed his support for bringing a clinic to Guilford, discussed the location at 439 Boston Post Road as a possible location, and agreed to keep discussions about the potential purchase of this property “confidential.” The property was purchased on July 25, 2023, but the first notice that a methadone clinic was planned for this location was in an Aug. 17, 2023 news article. In this article, Hoey explained that APT would "likely still have to go through" the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) "to obtain a change of use permit." APT would need to file the application and "depending on the nature of the application [PZC] will hold a public hearing." At the Q&A on Feb. 27, however, Hoey stated that the property at 439 Boston Post Road was zoned for “medical use as-a-right” and that “public hearings were unnecessary.” The bottom line is that I think Hoey knew that once this property was purchased, there would never be any public hearings.

What is obvious is that APT bought and renovated this property before they completed their licensing requirements. I urge all concerned Guilford citizens to email Alice Martinez (alice.martinez@ct.gov) at the Connecticut Department of Public Health with their concerns regarding the need for this clinic.

Dave Holman

Guilford