Palmetto OKs moratorium for 'pill mills'

PALMETTO — Following Bradenton and Manatee County’s lead, the Palmetto City Commission adopted an emergency ordinance placing a moratorium on opening pain management clinics within the city.

The ordinance, adopted 4-0 Monday, puts a one-year moratorium on issuing business licenses to any new pain management clinics beginning immediately.

Commissioner Mary Lancaster was absent from the meeting.

During the moratorium, city officials will study the impact of pain clinics and develop land use and permitting regulations for that type of business.

A 2009 Broward County grand jury report was used to justify the need for the moratorium. The city of Bradenton and the county also cited the grand jury report in writing their ordinances.

The report found that illicit drug dealers are switching to selling prescription drugs in large quantities on the street.

Some prescription drugs, mostly narcotics such as oxycodone, are obtained from pain management clinics, which law enforcement agencies call “pill mills” because there are few regulations for such establishments, according to the report.

Many of the pill mill customers are from other states, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio, where the laws on distribution of prescription medicine are stricter than Florida’s.

The Bradenton City Council adopted its moratorium last month after the 1910 Medical Clinic opened at 1910 Manatee Ave. W.

But before the city could adopt the ordinance, the facility moved to Ellenton, which is in the unincorporated part of the county.

The county commission then moved quickly on June 8 to pass a moratorium and an application process which would make it difficult for 1910 Medical Clinic to operate in the county after 30 days of the ordinance’s adoption.

Palmetto could have used the county’s ordinance to prevent the pain clinic from moving into the city, but City Attorney Mark Barnebey said a city moratorium would be more effective.

“In a review of the county ordinance, part of it will not apply in the city because of the city’s land use codes and business license,” Barnebey said.

The county does not have a business license code, but Palmetto does, giving the city more enforcement powers on businesses.

Also on Tuesday, a proposed ordinance to allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays was defeated with a split 2-2 vote.

Commissioners Tamara Cornwell and Tambra Varnadore voted against the proposal, while Commissioners Brian Williams and Alan Zirkelbach voted to adopt the new ordinance. With Lancaster absent, the measure fails on a divided vote.