County zoning board to consider drug rehab bed expansion
The Cascade County Zoning Board of Adjustment is scheduled to consider a special use permit application from Healing the Circle Lodge, a drug rehab facility, to increase from eight to 16 beds.
The facility opened last summer at 2601 Jasper Road.
Initially planned as an 18-bed facility, the company withdrew its permit application in June 2025 after a lengthy public hearing in May that drew significant opposition from neighboring property owners.
Healing the Circle Lodge rehab facility opens with fewer beds after neighborhood opposition [2025]
It opened with four beds since, under county regulations, it could operate with up to eight beds as a residential inpatient treatment facility.
Under the county zoning regulations, a “community residential facility serving eight or fewer persons is considered a residential use of property for purposes of zoning if the home providers care on a 24-hour-a-day basis.”
Among the allowable uses for such a facility is “a halfway house operated in accordance with regulations of the department of public health and human services for the rehabilitation of alcoholics or drug dependent persons.”
Drug rehab facility proposed for Jasper Road withdraws application [2025]
In their new permit application, Healing the Circle is asking to have up to 16 occupants with a rotating staff of seven, according to the county planning staff report.
Residents will continue to be limited to the facility, other than medical appointments and support meetings, according to the staff report.
Most care, including group therapy, case management, individual counseling, and supervised recovery activities, will continue to be clinically supervised inside the facility.
The facility is currently licensed by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services as a residential substance use disorder facility for up to eight beds.
County staff is recommending permit approval, with conditions, according to the draft staff report.
The conditions include no on-street parking, staff are required to use the existing garage or driveway and no residents should have vehicles on the property; at least two to three staff on site at all times when the facility has inpatient residents; a maximum of 16 residents; and obtaining any necessary permits and approvals.
A new septic system has been engineered to accommodate up to 16 residents and was approved by the City-County Health Department, according to the application materials, to ensure protection of groundwater and nearby water supplies.
Staff wrote in their analysis that with CCHD’s oversight of the newly updated septic system, they don’t foresee any impact on public or private water supplies.
The facility uses an existing cistern with water delivered weekly.
CCHD approval for water supply and septic would be required prior to the special use permit being issued, according to county planning staff.
As of April 9, the ZBOA meeting packet for the April 16 meeting had not been posted on the county website, but a draft was provided to The Electric.
Lt. Matt Fleming, Great Falls Police Department spokesman, told The Electric he’s heard of no issues related to the facility since it’s been open.
Mike O’Reilly, a former ownership partner, told The Electric in August that they’d adjusted their business plan to start smaller, based on community pushback and hoped to expand over time to add more beds.
He said they intend to continue to be quiet neighbors and when they request a permit in the future to allow for more than eight beds, that the community will respond based on their actual operations and “not about rumors.”
Residential rehab facility planned for Jasper Road [2025]
O’Reilly said they were using the same admissions criteria as proposed with their initial permit application and don’t accept violent or sexual offenders.
Last summer, Nancy Landa, the majority partner in the ownership group, purchased the property. She’s based in Las Vegas, according to property records.
The county issued a permit issued to Healing the Circle Lodge last summer, allowing for a maximum of four beds until the septic issues were addressed.
After a roughly three-hour public hearing on the initial permit request in May 2025, the ZBOA postponed its decision.
A number of community members spoke in favor of the project, discussing the need for chemical dependency treatment in the area.
Area neighbors spoke in opposition to the project, citing concerns about traffic and safety.
The county zoning board of adjustment reviewed the permit application withdrawal during their June 19 meeting.
*Photo from the 2025 Realtor.com property listing
