Questions loom over Highland Dr group home application

A drawing of the facility, located at the intersection of Highland Dr and View Dr. Photo: Summit County, Utah

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — At their meeting Tuesday the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission delayed a decision on a conditional use permit for a residential treatment facility and group home for people struggling with substance abuse and addiction located at 241 Highland Dr.

The 11,000-square-foot property used to be an assisted living home. The applicant, Wasatch Crest Treatment Facility, is now proposing a maximum of 28 patients on-site (previously 32).

“This would be the first facility of its kind for adult men and women in Park City and Summit County,” said Wasatch Crest CEO James Huffman. Following an emotional hearing about the project in April, Huffman said they are now planning to implement a privacy fence around the property along with some other changes including designated smoking areas outside.

Half of the sixteen bedrooms would be used for group living and the other for residential treatment living.

Patients would stay on-site the entire time for approximately 1-7 days, after which they would be transferred to a facility in Heber, according to a staff report.

Residents in the group living side would stay anywhere from 30 to 90-days. These patients would leave the site during the day to go to jobs or receive off-site treatment.

Members of the neighborhood spoke in opposition to the proposal during a public hearing on Tuesday.

Jon Weinberg, who lives at nearby Ridge Crest Dr, said the school bus stop right by the facility “needs to be respositioned if this facility is approved. That is something that we will not as parents stand for, to have the kids sitting next to this facility,” he said.

“I don’t think that facility is equipped to have the occupancy that has been proposed,” said Linda Adams, who lives across the street from the property on View Dr.

“Although we’ve seen the legality of it being allowed in the general plan, we have not seen any risks addressed about people who are rehabbing, possibly coming in contact with residents,” said View Dr. resident Darren Boyce. He said he has seen plenty of similar facilities in his 27 years with the Phoenix Fire Department.

Another View Dr. resident called for more communication between the applicant and neighbors. “This is our lives. This is our daily lives,” she said. “These are our lives 24/7. These are our children, and this is our future. So please, please, please — communication is key moving forward.”

Commissioner Thomas Cooke, who said that addiction has been part of his family’s narrative, said the number of patients and clients in the facility is “not even reasonable.” He called for the commission to get professional opinions from mental health officials at the Summit County Health Department or other trusted third parties.

Cooke also pointed to the eight parking spots proposed in the application as a concern. Other members of the commission agreed that many questions still need to be answered.

“There’s issues regarding public safety, parking and trash,” commissioner Chris Conabee said. He said the public safety issue revolves around the high occupancy, and noted that people recovering from addiction don’t deserve to be labeled.

“There is an increasing trend of not just drug abuse, but a need for recovery,” he said. “It’s incumbent on all of us as a community to find a solution to how we solve these issues.”

“I would highly suggest that the company would actually hold an open house where the neighborhood could go in and see the facility,” commissioner Tyann Mooney said.

Huffman said he loved that idea. “We’re totally open to that,” he said. “We’ll endeavor to get something out to the neighborhood and on the calendar in the near future.”

The application was continued until a date uncertain.