ZBOA denies drug rehab facility expansion with 3-2 vote
The Cascade County Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 3-2 during their April 16 meeting to deny a special use permit for a substance abuse treatment facility to expand from eight to 16 beds.
The facility, Healing the Circle Lodge, opened last summer at 2601 Jasper Road.
Several area residents spoke in opposition to the permit with concern over property values, traffic, infrastructure and public safety.
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.
County zoning board to consider drug rehab bed expansion
It opened with four beds since, under county regulations, it could operate with up to eight beds as a residential inpatient treatment facility.
John Harding, ZBOA member, moved to deny the permit because he felt the increased use, up to 16 beds, was not in harmony with the neighborhood and would negatively affect surrounding property owners.
He said he wasn’t considering the drug rehab aspect, but viewed it as if a 16-plex was being built in the residential area.
His motion was seconded by Katie Hanning, who said they had to separate emotion from the regulations.
Both said the permit would amount to a rezoning of the property.
Harding said that if Healing the Circle were to close, the property could have a use of 16 people in the future.
Michele Levine, a deputy county attorney, said it was “not a rezone. It’s not a change in use.”
Healing the Circle Lodge rehab facility opens with fewer beds after neighborhood opposition [2025]
Special use permits are issued to property owners for specific parcels for specific uses. The permits expire if the use ceases for six months, according to the county zoning regulations.
Harding said his concern was specific to the density and not who was inside.
He said he didn’t believe the proposed expansion endangered public health or safety since the City-County Health Department and rural fire departments signed off on the proposal.
Harding said they didn’t have much guidance for handling projects on the border with the city.
In 2020, City Commissioners annexed about 40 acres adjacent to the Healing the Circle property, to the southwest, for a four-lot subdivision, including the since-built truck wash facility, as well as proposed mini-storage units and future residential development.
City Commission to consider annexation for truck wash; Little Shell event center [2020]
At the time, some residents of the Bel-View Palisade neighborhood directly to the east opposed the annexation with concerns over traffic.
Ken Thornton, ZBOA member, said they can’t discriminate on the basis of substance abuse treatment or recovery under the Americans with Disabilities Act, so they were treading on the line of lawsuits.
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]
Dexter Busby, ZBOA member, said that if the use wasn’t in harmony with the area, he questioned why it was permitted by right in the county zoning regulations up to eight people.
Harding said that the owners bought the property knowing the county zoning regulations and were operating with up to eight beds so they weren’t being harmed by denying the SUP.
Busby said he didn’t necessarily disagree but could make an argument from the other side.
Thornton and board chair, David Deffinbaugh, voted against denial.
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.
Some area residents said they’d seen patients walking away from the facility or yelling from the facility deck.
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 recommended permit approval, with conditions, according to the 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.
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.
Residential rehab facility planned for Jasper Road [2025]
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.
Many 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.
