La Grange approves business license for addiction treatment center near Main Street

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After a monthslong fight, a drug recovery center is now licensed to do business in La Grange.

Kentucky Recovery, formerly Kentucky Mental Health Care, will open on Jefferson Street in La Grange, one block away from its historic Main Street. Many business owners said the clinic's mental health services are welcomed, but not at the Jefferson Street location.

La Grange Councilman Joe Davenport said the business license was granted Feb. 1. The clinic originally filed for its license in June 2022.

Davenport said part of the delay came from the city's questions over zoning regulations, and whether the clinic would be allowed to dispense narcotics.

The clinic will offer "methadone maintenance." It is a drug addiction treatment that uses a medicated opioid to fight addiction to other opioids like heroin or fentanyl.

"We went through planning and zoning to make sure that they could legally open a clinic there, that type of clinic," Davenport said. "There was nothing that came up that it wasn't illegal over there."

The treatment method is the reason some downtown business owners are expressing concerns over the center.

"The DEA has got their license issued and (is) satisfied with what they're doing," Davenport said.

La Grange Mayor John Black was unavailable for an interview on Friday afternoon, but said the city will keep a close eye on the clinic, making sure it is up to its standards.

"We'll just have our city police keep an eye on them, basically, is what is going to be done and I'm sure all the residents will keep an eye out on (them) and, if there's anything that we're concerned with, then we will address that," Davenport said.

The La Grange clinic will be Kentucky Recovery's second location. Its other facility is in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood.

“We don’t have any issues in Louisville, we love what we do, we have big hearts and that’s why we’re here. I think the issue is the space we have chosen. This is something we want," Kentucky Recovery CEO Joseph Nalley said when presenting plans in front of the La Grange City Council in June.

Nalley previously told WDRB News that less than 5% of its nearly 6,000 patients use a medication assisted treatment like methadone maintenance.