Town of Fountain Hills Development Services Director John Wesley updated the Planning and Zoning Commission on his research to prepare zoning regulations regarding substance abuse detox and rehabilitation facilities at the commission’s Dec. 13 regular session.

The commissioners also heard from a few members of the public and offered additional questions for Wesley to look into.

Commission members wanted to clarify that the Town Council is aware of the commission efforts in this direction. Wesley said the council is aware of the effort and supports the direction they are heading.

“Last February the council recognized this as an issue and determined it would be better for us to address it in the absence of an application or request for such facility,” Wesley told the commission.

He also responded to a question commissioners had regarding the legal opinion of Town Attorney Aaron Arnson. That opinion stated the town could not outright ban detox facilities due to federal ADA regulations. Wesley said Arnson had consulted a second attorney on the issue who agreed with his assessment, calling it “spot on.” The second attorney also stated that outpatient detox facilities are essentially the same as a medical office from a land use standpoint and should be classified as such.

Wesley also discussed an ongoing staff review of existing businesses operating in town that might be similar to detox and rehab facilities.

“Strictly speaking, staff has not identified any detoxification facilities which operate in town,” Wesley said. “However…some minor levels of outpatient detoxification can take place as part of an overall treatment program and that level of service could be happening in conjunction with other services offered by businesses such as Fountain Hills Recovery.

“Staff is still working on a thorough review of existing businesses in town that might be similar in nature to detoxification and drug treatment centers. There are a number of medical clinics and counseling services offered in town. However, none provide for an overnight stay as is associated with the more intense inpatient detox facilities.”

Resident Larry Meyers spoke to the commission stating that Fountain Hills Recovery does not operate “sober living homes,” but they describe it on their website as a “partial hospital.”

“People are receiving treatment in our neighborhoods, and we are finding crack pipes and syringes on the street,” Meyers said. “I will start bringing them to the Town.

“I highly suggest we stop talking about sober living.”

According to a report by Wesley, partial hospitalization is a scenario where clients live at home or in a group setting and go to the treatment center, which may or may not be a “hospital for services which may include detox in addition to counseling.”

Fountain Hills Recovery does operate a counseling center downtown that operates daytime hours. There are also two or three group homes across the community where some clients stay overnight. Such group homes are similar in zoning classification and land use as those used for care of the elderly.

Crystal Cavanaugh is a citizen who has been challenging the Town’s regulations in this area for much of the past year.

“Expansion of these businesses is a detriment to our property values and quality of life,” Cavanaugh said. “If they can’t be banned, make it more difficult to come in.”

Resident Liz Gildersleeve referred to issues in recent years for the City of Prescott related to detox facilities in that city. She wondered what prompted the concerns and how the city was able to reduce the number of facilities.

Wesley said the issues in Prescott were related to sober living homes and not detox facilities. He said the state legislature got involved with laws that helped flush out the bad actors. He said he was not familiar with any of the specific cases.

Commission Chairman Peter Gray offered a range of options and ideas for further discussion on the issue. His suggestions include efforts to improve the ratio between clients and care providers, a deeper look at the ordinance language as it relates to home-based businesses, a proposal to require the business license holder to maintain their primary residence at the business address, have a direct tenant/landlord relationship in situations where the property might be used for convalescence, care or detox purposes without having third-party involvement.

Gray also said he has concerns about closing loopholes that might allow for people that should be on certain registries due to a criminal past to be placed in an environment where their identity is protected.

He also asked staff to provide information to allow the commission to better understand the operation of detox and rehab facilities.

“Writing the zoning regulations is the easy part,” Gray said. “I want to protect what is well intended about these facilities and prevent bad actors from profiteering.”

Wesley said he is planning to schedule a public forum on the issue for the Planning and Zoning session on Monday, Jan. 10. He said he does not anticipate any other items on the commission agenda for that time and the session will be primarily to hear public input.