Healing Way? No way, pol says

STATE SEN. Mike Stack has a message for the people who plan to open a methadone clinic on Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg: "There's no way in hell."

That's what Stack roared last night from the stage at Lincoln High School, where he joined a group of lawmakers and civic leaders who promised roughly 750 neighbors in attendance that they'd fight the plan.

"They were very sneaky, the ones that took out the permits, because we couldn't find out one word about the [people] applying for this methadone clinic," City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski told attendees, adding that she appealed the city-granted zoning permit for the clinic.

The clinic, known as The Healing Way, has drawn the ire of residents, civic and political leaders since its owners filed for a state permit to distribute narcotics at the location early this month.

Despite residents' concerns about what the clinic may bring, a local criminal-justice professor pointed to research that shows that crime rates tend to drop in areas surrounding clinics.

Denise Leifker, a visiting professor at Widener University, said that a common misconception about the drug is that it replaces one addiction with another.

"Methadone is a treatment program. It doesn't give you a high," she said. "People get back to being functional where they can work and maintain a normal lifestyle."

But state Rep. Kevin Boyle and other local leaders pointed to the crime- and poverty-stricken Frankford, just a few miles from Holmesburg, and attributed its problems to drugs and drug-treatment centers.

Local leaders also allege that Alan Yanovsky and Eric Janovsky, two business owners linked to The Healing Way, have no medical background and question the motives behind the clinic.

"These aren't individuals coming from a treatment background," Boyle said. "We should certainly have professionals at the top of this."

Several calls from the Daily News to the office of The Healing Way and J and Y holdings, another business owned by Yanovsky and Janovsky, went unreturned.

Leaders also said that Dennis Kulp, who owns the property, told them he was "duped" and that he is willing to pay more than $100,000 to terminate the five-year lease. At his attorney's advice, Kulp did not attend last night's meeting, reportedly citing the possibility of litigation.

A zoning-appeal hearing is scheduled for Aug. 31. Krajewski, Boyle and other leaders implored residents to attend.