- April 25, 2024
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With a moratorium that prevents any new pain management clinics from opening in Flagler County soon expiring, county officials decided Wednesday to regulate their operation.
The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners passed an ordinance requiring that pain clinics in unincorporated Flagler County have a minimum of 1,000 square feet of floor space, display their licensing in a public area near the main entrance and operate only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
In addition, pain management clinics cannot be drive-through operations, cannot sell alcoholic beverages, and cannot have customers loitering outside of them. There are also regulations included about landlord responsibilities, payment options and the amenities of office space.
The ordinance is meant to allow legitimate pain management clinics continue to operate, while preventing clinics that sell illegally or for recreational purposes from opening in the county.
Under the oridnance, the clinics must also pay a $200 fee to apply for a certificate of use, which is required for such businesses.
Palm Coast and Bunnell have passed similar ordinances. The county’s ordinance only applies to unincorporated parts of Flagler County, and administrators were unable to determine whether Flagler Beach and Marineland have similar regulations, said Sally Sherman, deputy county administrator, at Wednesday’s regular meeting of the County Commission.
Commissioners passed the moratorium that prevents new business tax receipts from being issued to pain management clinics in November 2010. It was extended once, and expires Dec. 27.
Since then, state legislature has passed statutes aimed to quash the recreational use of prescription painkillers in Florida, which was once considered a prime location for this habit, said Sally Sherman, deputy county administrator, at Wednesday’s regular meeting of the County Commission.
County staff and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office monitored the effect of the legislation and considered results of several studies, including one by the Florida Attorney General’s Office, which highlighted the negative impact of painkiller abuse in the state, Sherman said.
“As much as I’m opposed to pain pills and the affect it’s had on Florida and its citizens, some of this seems like restraint-of-trade language,” Commissioner Barbara Revels said, asking whether the ordinance was legal.
County Attorney Albert Hadeed said that since the ordinance is meant to fight the adverse effect of painkillers in communities, including crime associated with their recreational use, the ordinance was lawful.
The Sheriff’s Office recommended the ordinance as well. Currently, deputies are unaware of any illegal pain management clinics in the county, but they hope to keep it that way, Sherman said.
The ordinance passed unanimously.
