A recovery center primarily for veterans with PTSD and substance abuse disorders will be allowed to proceed after Oakley denied a local couple’s appeal Monday.
Chateau Recovery is moving from Midway to Oakley for more space, the owner previously told KPCW. It’s replacing the beloved Elk Meadows Assisted Living and Memory Care, which was the last facility of its kind in the county.
The rehab facility inherited Elk Meadows’ permit and needed one amendment before it could open: to go from a “residential care facility” to a “residential treatment facility.”
And city staff approved the change.
But Oakley residents Nicole and Dallas Brown argued the amendment should have actually gone through the planning commission and city council.
The Browns made their case at a hearing Jan. 27. Former Summit County Councilmember Doug Clyde, who is Oakley’s appeal authority, ruled against them.
“Staff got it right, completely,” he told the Browns. “The reason why they got it right is because, essentially, they’re not changing the building, they're not changing the parking, they're not changing the landscaping.”
Clyde said Chateau Recovery is proposing 56 patients. The original permit allowed more than 80.
According to Dallas Brown, the original permit includes a condition that the planning commission and council approve changes.
“It’s in there. It is one of the conditions. It is binded with the property,” he said.
Clyde countered that the permit was first approved in 1999. Now more recent Utah law allows staff to make minor changes.
“The code has changed, and we have a new process that wasn't available then. Can we use that process? I believe so,” Clyde said.
Changes are considered “minor” if they don’t increase density, square footage or the intensity of a project.
Dallas Brown also argued substance abuse treatment is more intense than memory care, but city staff didn’t agree. And Clyde said he doesn’t have any evidence that contradicts what staff found.
At first, the Oakley city attorney thought the Browns might not have legal standing to appeal Chateau Recovery’s permit because they live a couple miles from the facility.
Clyde said he intervened and pointed out the city didn’t have information proving the Browns don’t have standing.
That allowed the hearing to proceed Jan. 27, when Clyde denied the appeal. He said the decision will be made final in the coming days, and Chateau Recovery will be allowed to open.
Mayor Zane Woolstenhulme appointed Clyde as appeal authority in 2022.
