BUTLER TWP — A company already operating a methadone clinic and addiction therapy facility in Butler is seeking to open a medically-assisted drug treatment program at the site of the former cancer treatment center on Hindman Road.

Under the application filed with the township by Foundations Medical Services, the building at 160 Hindman Road could become a clinic for medically-assisted drug treatment, township officials say.

Township zoning officer Jessie Hines said the municipality has 30 days to review a building permit the company filed on March 24. He sees it as a straightforward continuing use for the site, which is the former Butler Cancer Treatment Center.

Hines acknowledged that proposals for medically-assisted drug treatment programs, known as methadone clinics, can be contentious, but that multiple court cases have made it clear that municipalities can’t bar them from moving into buildings that are zoned for medical use.

“They (the company) comply with all of our regulations ... and they’re not changing the footprint,” of the building, Hines said of the company’s proposal. “As a government you can’t pick and choose. This is another medical need, and a facility that’s permitted by zoning.”

The proposed renovations to the building would be internal, Hines said. And because the clinic’s function would not change the use of the parcel, the company would not be required to go before township commissioners or other township boards and seek approval to use the facility, he said.

The property is owned by BKW Holdings, according to online county records.

Foundations Medical runs a substance abuse treatment center on Hollywood Drive in Butler.

Foundations Medical referred questions regarding the application to its parent company, Altoona-based Pyramid Health Care, which owns a network of residential treatment centers, halfway houses and methadone and suboxone clinics across Pennsylvania. A company spokesman did not return messages left seeking information about the application.