Expansion of Pleasant View residential rehabilitation home sparking concern, intense debate

PLEASANT VIEW, Weber County — Plans to expand a home in Pleasant View for men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction are prompting intense debate over how best to reconcile the needs of those getting help and the concerns of others living around them.

The issue — overshadowed by federal and state laws meant to safeguard the housing rights of the population — has prompted calls by neighbors for city officials to take a more active role in defining the parameters of the proposal and setting conditions governing its operation. Those concerned with the proposal packed a Pleasant View Planning Commission meeting earlier this month to voice their concerns and the body is to take action on the issue on Thursday.

The number of people seeking help at the Rise Recovery LLC home, up to 14, is a big point of concern, though reducing that at this stage may be a nonstarter. Beyond that, neighbors seek language in the facility's conditional use permit, the central focus of debate for the Planning Commission, spelling out how residents at the home are to be screened and who may live at the home, among other things.

Without the conditions spelled out in a formal document, "there's no recourse," said Aubree Bosen, who lives in the neighborhood with her family. "They can promise us a lot of things, but they don't have to follow that."

City officials and reps from Rise Recovery didn't immediately respond to a query Monday seeking comment. But in city paperwork and other documents, they reference federal and state laws that protect the housing rights of the disabled, which encompass people recovering from drug addiction.

"The city must recognize the proposed use as a residential facility for persons with disabilities under applicable federal and state law. The city must allow Rise Recovery to operate at the property with up to 14 residents as a reasonable accommodation," reads a June 4 report from Pleasant View staff to Pleasant View Planning Commission members.

Aside from noting the legal protections people recovering from substance abuse have, the law firm representing Rise Recovery — Parsons, Behle and Latimer of Idaho Falls, Idaho — stressed the importance of residential programming in helping them. In a Feb. 24 letter to Pleasant View City Planner Tammy Eveson, the law firm also outlined Rise Recovery's plans to seek a conditional use permit for its plans at the home in the 1300 West block of 3100 North.

"Community-based residential treatment and recovery services have particularly been shown to be necessary in obtaining long-term abstinence because it leads to relationship building, increased trust and a supportive recovery community," reads the letter. Studies show that "recovery residences" are essential to "recovery, reducing relapse and recidivism and promoting meaningful reintegration into society — particularly when recovery is rightly understood as a long-term, chronic care process."

As is, the 3100 North home, its yard enclosed by a tall fence, already serves three to four people, according to Bosen. Plans call for expanding that to 14 people, with one or two additional staff to staff the residence, requiring a conditional use permit from the city, since current regulations only allow up to five unrelated people at such support facilities. Granting of the permit will be the focus of Thursday's Planning Commission meeting.

'Screening and retention procedures'

Bosen said many children live in the residential area, and their safety, given the planned expansion, is at the root of some of the neighbors' worries. Home values in the neighborhood hover in the $700,000-plus range, according to online property tax records.

She said the home has six rooms and the plans to house 14 residents in the 3,600-square-foot home were the first point of concern when the plans came to light. Project proponents say the number is key in preventing a sense of isolation among those getting help and fostering a support network. At the same time, with a determination from a city consultant that Rise Recovery is within its rights in expanding the facility to 14 people, the concerned neighbors are now focused on making sure the conditional-use permit contains language governing who may reside at the home.

In a formal declaration last February, Rise Recovery owner Jared Fredrickson offered assurances that no one would be placed in the home who would pose a risk or threat to others. Participation in the program is "strictly voluntary," Rise Recovery Clinical Director Brock Howick said in his own declaration, and residents won't be allowed at the facility in lieu of jail or prison.

Bosen and the other neighbors, however, want language in the conditional-use permit formalizing guidelines related to supervision. They want Rise Recovery to create "written admission, screening and retention procedures" to better control those getting help at the facility, among other things. Moreover, they want the city to have the authority to revoke the conditional-use permit if Rise Recovery doesn't comply with its assurances.

"These proposed conditions do not create new obligations. They simply ensure that Rise Recovery operates consistently with the representations that formed the basis of the reasonable accommodation determination and the city's approval process," reads a copy of the neighbors' proposal, supplied to KSL.

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