- The Pleasant View Planning Commission approved a controversial permit allowing a residential rehabilitation facility to expand the number of people it serves.
- Plan boosters say the move is needed to prevent a sense of isolation among program participants and to foster a sense of community.
- Some neighbors had sought language in the permit related to who can take part.
PLEASANT VIEW, Weber County — Pleasant View officials approved a conditional use permit allowing expansion of a residential rehabilitation home, and now adjacent homeowners are considering their legal options.
City officials didn't respond to a query seeking information about Thursday's meeting on the issue by the Pleasant View Planning Commission. But Aubree Bosen, one of numerous neighbors who have raised concerns with the plans, attended and said officials approved the permit request Rise Recovery sought to boost the number of men it can treat at the home to 14.
"Everything was approved," she said.
The home, located in a residential neighborhood, was already being used to help men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, within provisions spelled out in city ordinance, according to Bosen. To expand the number of people the home can serve, though, Rise Recovery LLC, which operates the facility, needed the conditional-use permit. Company officials have stressed the importance of allowing more people at the home to prevent a sense of isolation among program participants and to foster a sense of community.
Neighbors like Bosen, however, worry about the potential background of people taking part in the program and had pressed for more specific language in the conditional-use permit related to supervision and the process of selecting participants.
In the end, Bosen said city officials didn't add any of the language she and others sought, but included language requiring Rise Recovery to "follow the representation made in the application." 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. Moreover, residents won't be allowed to take part in lieu of jail or prison.
Now, Bosen said she and other area residents are considering their legal options on the grounds that officials didn't do their "due diligence" in handling the request and more actively seeking a compromise with Rise Recovery on its plans.
"We're just frustrated because we feel the city completely ignored us," she said.
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Tim Vandenack
