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Pleasant Grove » Mark Hales believes this Utah County city needs a place for drug and alcohol abusers to get help cleaning up their lives.
As a former fire chief, he's responded to calls for people who overdosed on drugs. His son, Danny, spent three years in rehabilitation and turned his life around. And he welcomes Craig Forsyth's plans to build a rehabilitation center here.
"If I had property, I would give it to [Forsyth] and let him build it next to me," Hales said at a neighborhood meeting to discuss the proposed rehab center.
But Hale's neighbors weren't as willing. Most of the more than 40 people attending the meeting thought housing 16 recovering addicts in their neighborhood, near a state liquor store and a gun shop, was a recipe for disaster.
"You have a match, a keg and collateral damage mixed together," said Ellavee Yuzon. "It is not safe for the children."
Forsyth is proposing to build his Phoenix House at 149 S. 1300 West. City Planner Sean Allen said Phoenix House would require a conditional-use permit before it could operate. Wednesday's meeting was organized by the city and Sam White's Lane Neighborhood Chairman Duane Day to discuss the neighborhood's concerns before the Planning Commission hears the request.
Bruce Goodwin, who lives to the north of the site, said the center's clients would pose a threat to the neighbors, as they would likely wander out of the center and look for drugs or alcohol -- or something they could steal to get it. He based his claims on his own experience with a drug-abusing relative.
"We don't want it there, but you want to shove it down our throats," Goodwin said. "Why don't you put it somewhere else?"
If it has to come, Goodwin said he wants to see a high, soundproof wall separating it from his property. One person suggested putting barbed wire on top of the wall just to make sure the treatment center's clients don't try to escape.
Forsyth said he wants to build it because there is a need for substance-abuse treatment in the area, as Utah has one of the highest incidents of prescription drug abuse in the nation.
He also stressed that, as a longtime resident, he wants to be a good neighbor and work with those in the neighborhood.
Danny Hale said when he managed a group home, local LDS bishops would call and ask if the residents could come and do service projects in their wards.
William Green, a consulting social worker retained by Forsyth, said the residents' fears are common -- and unsupported by the facts. He said there is no evidence to support claims that a treatment center will increase crime or drive down property values, while there is data showing the opposite.