Planning commissioners approve substance abuse treatment center

In an emotionally charged public hearing that touched on the nature of addiction and those seeking help, a local nonprofit secured a major win for future operations in Carson City.

Wednesday, the Carson City Planning Commission voted 6-0, with Commissioner Nathaniel Killgore absent, to approve a special use permit for Vitality Unlimited for a new 36-bed, 9,200-square-foot residential substance use disorder treatment center on vacant retail commercial property at 1625 Vista Lane, south of the Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center.

Vitality Unlimited operates a residential treatment center in the Carson City Health and Human Services building off Long Street and has been awarded $3 million through the state (ARPA dollars) plus a $500,000 commitment from Carson City (also ARPA funds) for relocation. The city has indicated the need for more space in the HHS building, according to Sarah Adler, spokesperson for the Vitality project. Adler told the Appeal the ARPA funding must be obligated by the end of the year.

Planning commissioners’ decision came after prolific public comment, mostly from neighbors in the Silver Oak community south of the proposed treatment center. More than a dozen letters were submitted as late material, the majority opposed to the project. One document included more than 60 signatures from residents in opposition.

More than two dozen people spoke in person at the hearing Wednesday. Opponents included residents and neighboring tenants and property owners in the medical park that abuts a golf course between the commercial uses and residences to the south. Issues ranged from fear of increased crime and privacy concerns to the project’s effects on property values.

Many speakers talked about personal experiences with those battling addiction.

“And the last thing I want to do is disparage these types of facilities and the need of our community for these types of facilities,” said Silver Oak resident Michael Hartman. “I have a brother that went through treatment five times. Eventually he became a drug and alcohol counselor. I have an appreciation for the need of this kind of project; that’s not my issue. My issue is the fit. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t fit at all with the neighbors. It doesn’t fit with the buildings next to it.”

A letter from Michelle Dudley, office manager of Carson Periodontics and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to the west of the site, raised security issues and impacts on existing customers.

“While we support initiatives to provide accessible drug rehabilitation services, we feel that locating a drug treatment facility in close proximity to an operating dental practice with medication storage presents significant safety and logistical challenges,” Dudley wrote Oct. 29.

Carson real estate agent Heidi McFadden said Wednesday she sold the majority of homes “that I believe are actually adjacent even though they were saying there were no homes adjacent.”

“I do believe this would have an effect on property values for these homeowners who have moved specifically to this area wanting to be near medical facilities, and I don’t believe this falls under the same medical facility that they moved here for,” McFadden said, adding she had personal experience with outdoor drug use at her office near the Mallory Behavioral Health Crisis Center in west Carson.

Those in support of the project, many employees of Vitality, testified to the nonprofit’s positive record in the community, their high admission standards for residential treatment (typically 30 days long) and their unwillingness to take violent offenders.

“I struggled with my own substance use disorder for over 10 years, and now, thanks to the support I found through treatment, I’m over six years sober, going on seven next month,” said Carson resident Marshall Gledhill, a drug and alcohol counselor who works for Vitality.

Gledhill maintained addiction is a health care issue, not a moral failure.

“This new residential treatment center has the potential to be a lifeline for people right here in Carson and the surrounding communities who are facing one of the most challenging experiences a person can experience,” he said. “But what does that say about us as a community if we deny our neighbors the chance to get better?”

Two leaders in Carson offered some context surrounding addiction, crime and treatment.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong used a crime map, available at https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/sheriff-s-office/crime-in-our-area#ad-image-1, to show incidences since the new fiscal year (July 1) around the current Vitality facility and other facilities in the city.

“I don’t want to say it’s free of crime, but certainly not a lot of calls for service in the first third of this year,” Furlong said Wednesday of Vitality’s current location. “It doesn’t tend to have them. It’s a pretty quiet area. Not much goes on.”

Carson Tahoe Health CEO Michelle Joy explained CTH operations in the area.

“I would also like to add that the hospital, as well as our clinic on Vista Lane, is located in the same neighborhood as the proposed Vitality facility,” Joy wrote. “We often see the same individuals in our Emergency Room and as inpatients, sometimes for extended periods, as they undergo treatment for acute substance use disorders (SUD).

“We also treat non-acute SUD patients at our existing rehab facility at the old hospital, which is also located in a residential neighborhood. The hospital’s long-range plan is to relocate and consolidate our behavioral health services — encompassing inpatient, outpatient, and crisis stabilization — onto our main campus with a new healing hub adjacent to the Sierra building. The individuals seeking treatment at Vitality are often the same people already receiving care in our facilities within this area.”

Planning commissioners were confident in Vitality’s operations, but they conditioned their approval that the SUP be nontransferable. Commissioners also stipulated an 8-foot, non-wood, opaque fence or wall be constructed around the new facility’s interior courtyard shielding neighbors to the south. And after Planning Commission Chair Teri Preston inquired if the property would be taken off the tax rolls, Vitality volunteered another condition they would not seek tax exempt status for the property.

“I know we can guarantee you good service and good management,” Vitality CEO Ester Quilici told commissioners. “I don’t know about the next company. This is a legacy project for us. This is not something that we’re trying to do and then sell out. We wouldn’t do that.”

Vitality also indicated they would work on design elements to help alleviate privacy concerns.

Preston, who lives in Silver Oak, said residents there made “a substantial investment” in the neighborhood, and she worried property values would be affected; however, with the added conditions of approval, Preston supported the SUP.

Planning Commissioner Greg Brooks sympathized with neighbors but said the planning commission is not a policing body. He added a personal note that he’d seen his sister and people at his church break free from substance abuse.

“I’m not worried about them being 300 feet away from my house,” he said. “I’m not worried about them being in my living room. I understand the fear. Like I said, I would feel that fear myself. I do not think that fear should be a driver of saying ‘we don’t want this in our community.’”

In other action:

• Planning commissioners voted 6-0, with Killgore absent, to extend a SUP for an unlimited gaming casino, bar and additional signage on property zoned retail commercial-planned unit development at 3246 N. Carson St. — near the old K-Mart building that recently saw SUP approval for storage and commercial use.

Silver Bullet of Nevada LLC saw the original SUP approved in 2016, but the property has been tied up in litigation. Sev Carlson, an attorney representing the applicant, said Silver Bullet is the tenant and not a party to the litigation that involves the building owners in the shopping center. He explained Silver Bullet wants to preserve the project and move forward when possible.

Planning commissioners agreed with a staff recommendation and extended the SUP for three years, into 2027, not granting indefinite approval.