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LAND USE Circle of Trust luxury treatment facility approved outside Ashland Neighbors lose appeal of luxury recovery center northeast of Ashland By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 3, 2015 @ 5:27 pm Updated Aug 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 3, 2015 @ 5:27 pm Updated Aug 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM » RELATED CONTENT • The Circle of Trust » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> The Circle of Trust luxury residential treatment facility proposed in the hills northeast of Ashland has been given final approval by a Jackson County hearings officer and is set to open in late fall. “We’re elated, happy this can go forth now, because it can serve so many people and is a great business for this county and can employ so many people,” said the Rev. Norma Burton, the center’s chief executive officer and executive director who has worked in trauma and recovery with battered women in New Mexico. Burton is the minister of Unity Ashland but emphasized the center is not connected with the church. The center will be her full-time work, she said, with the church being part-time.  With the hearings officer's approval, the Circle of Trust, an LLC, was expected to close escrow soon, she said. The seller is Ashland hotelier Douglas Neuman, who bought the mansion and the 96-acre property at auction last year. The 11,000-square-foot mansion was built in 2000 by plastic surgeon Scott Young and his wife, Sulara, who waged a successful legal battle to have their spiritual center, the Circle of Teran, declared a church. That tax status was granted in 2008, about the time the couple put the property on the market. The treatment center was approved by Jackson County on May 11, but neighbors appealed the decision, saying the added traffic, parking, road maintenance, wildfire risk and potential security threats by patients were not consistent with exclusive farm use, for which the property at 3300 Butler Creek Road is zoned. They have 21 days to appeal the hearing officer's July 24 ruling affirming the county's decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Dr. Philip and Debbi Paden and KanDu Ranch LLC were the appellants, supported in a letter signed by Upper Butler Creek Road area residents Kent Erskine and Dona Zimmerman, Marla Morrissey, David and Ruth Alexander, Lee and Joanne Weisel, Loren and Joanne Luman and Carol Balone. Debbi Paden said late last week her husband had not read the county’s recent ruling and they haven’t decided yet whether to appeal it to LUBA. Hearings Officer Donald Rubenstein said that at a cost $40,000 a month per patient, the center will be “high end," gated and on an isolated, mile-long road that would prevent patients from “simply wandering off.” Staff will be present 24 hours a day and patients won’t be allowed cars, so they can’t drive off, he noted. The neighbors argued that state law bars a residential facility in EFU zoning. But Rubenstein said subsequent administrative rules muddied that issue, requiring attention at the state level, not for a county hearings officer.  Since the appellants in an earlier hearing didn’t bring up the center’s alleged failure to comply with wildfire safety standards, Rubenstein declined to consider it. The county rejected the notion that the access road, though sometimes steep and winding, was “anything other than well maintained” with adequate pullouts. Appellants alleged vehicles had gone off steep embankments and that emergency vehicles wouldn’t be familiar with it, but Rubenstein said these incidents weren’t proven or were speculative. He said the applicant had pledged to carpool and keep traffic at a minimum and, if the house were used as a private residence, traffic could be heavier than that planned by the center. The county rejected notions the center would force a significant change in farm practices of neighbors through traffic, misuse of fire or patients fleeing the site. Patients would be monitored by cameras, live in a nonsmoking environment and since they are there voluntarily and paying for it, they would be expected to leave only on their request and in a family member’s vehicle. The site’s use as a church had none of these impacts, Rubenstein said. Parking is also adequate, he said. Appellants said the center would disrupt elk habit. But, after consulting with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the county said any impact would be similar to farms' impact on habitat. Burton argued that a residential treatment facility is a use allowed by the state on EFU land. She said she hopes neighbors won’t appeal to LUBA, as “this facility is going to be there. An appeal won’t stop it. ... It’s to their benefit to work with us now to make this the best possible thing for all.” Circle of Trust is advertising for a range of professionals, including marketing consultant, medical director, psychologist-clinical supervisor, certified alcohol-drug counselor, intake coordinator, chef-nutritionist, equestrian therapist and art therapist, according to its website, www.circleoftrustcenter.com. The 15-bed center will join a network of similar centers around the country, she said, and has already been getting inquiries about referrals for clients. The center will focus on “biology, biochemistry aspects of balancing body chemistry that are essential to complete recovery. It will combine with cleansing, which not a lot of centers focus on,” she said. According to the center's website, “Holistic cleansing and detoxification addresses a thorough, multiple organ and whole-body cleansing that includes reducing/eliminating your toxin intake, promoting healthy toxin elimination, and using fresh organic food, herbs and supplements to strengthen the optimal function of the body’s organs.” Reach freelance writer John Darling at [email protected]. Circle of Trust Decision by Mail Tribune   By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 3, 2015 @ 5:27 pm Updated Aug 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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