Every day, 550 recovering drug addicts visit a nondescript storefront at 147-18 Archer Ave. There is no sign to indicate it, but inside is a methadone clinic.

After 29 years at the same address, the clinic recently decided it had outgrown its space, and needed a larger office. Catholic Medical Center, the hospital which runs the clinic, wanted to move it around the block. Local businessmen wanted to move it out of the neighborhood.

The substance abuse treatment center provides patients with methadone, a legal drug used to wean addicts off heroin. While the use of methadone in drug treatment has long been a source of controversy among health policymakers, executives at Catholic Medical Center said they did not expect the relocation of the clinic to be equally controversial. But in April, shortly after the move was announced, a group of businessmen calling themselves the 146th Street Community Preservation League circulated a petition calling on Borough President Claire Shulman and Councilman Tom White to block the move.

If the clinic were allowed to move to an office building at 91-10 146th St., the petition claimed that the facility would be able to more than triple its clientele.

"This will bring an additional 2,200 recovering drug addicts to our neighborhood," the petition stated. "This in turn will bring increased drug use into the area. Increased presence of drug addicts and more crime will certainly reduce the property values in the neighborhood."

Officials at Catholic Medical Center said that the hospital had no intention of changing the size and scope of their operation. "The numbers will remain the same," said Stephen Phelps, a spokesperson for the hospital. "We serve a total of 850 patients and that will not change." What would change in the larger location, said Phelps, is the ability of the clinic to more effectively provide its services.

Former addicts say that methadone clinics deserve their reputation for being drug dealer and crime magnets. "If you want to know where to get heroin," said one former methadone user, "just open up the Yellow Pages and look under methadone clinics. Right out in front, you can buy anything you want."

Loitering and drug dealing are not a major problem in front of the Archer Avenue clinic, police at the 103rd precinct told the Press. "The clinic does not allow patients to loiter, and if they do, they are cut off."

But loitering and dealing, or even the perception of loitering and dealing are bad for business, say neighbors of the clinic.

"Such a facility is a disincentive to economic development," said Sam Samuels, spokesperson for the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. "It is at odds with our objectives, and we have received a number of complaints."

After meeting with Borough President Claire Shulman and Councilman Tom White, the hospital agreed to consider alternative locations for the clinic.

"It’s not that these services are not needed," said White. "But that the site is potential office space for development."

White, who runs his own drug treatment facility in Jamaica said he is an opponent of methadone because it substitutes one addiction for another. "It is effective as an anti-crime measure," he said. "But it does not in my opinion help people get over their problems."

White added that there is more to the controversy than merely the continued chorus of "not in my backyard." While conceding that most residents and businesses would prefer not to be situated next to a methadone clinic, in this case, White said, the clinic already was in their backyard.

Citing the lack of incidents and the length of their stay in the neighborhood, Catholic Medical Center contends that a methadone clinic is not bad for the local economy.

"An operation like ours has proved itself to be effective," said Phelps. "We could happily exist with the community almost anywhere."

Borough President Claire Shulman has tentatively scheduled a second meeting with the hospital and the concerned businessmen for July 19. Shulman asked the businessmen to present alternative sites for the clinic for consideration.