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Morrison County planning panel declines to recommend amended conditions for Autumn Hills treatment center
Summary
The Morrison County Planning Commission declined to recommend approval of Long Prairie Project Associates’ request to remove person-specific conditions from the interim use permit for Autumn Hills, after commissioners and several neighbors expressed concern about accountability, ownership turnover and a proposed replacement reporting requirement tied to an entity or title.
Lance Muscara, an authorized representative for Long Prairie Project Associates, and Nick Mo, vice president of Ascension Recovery Services, told the Morrison County Planning Commission on June 23 that Autumn Hills—a licensed residential treatment center built at 1280 180th Street in Long Prairie—has completed construction and is in state licensure review.
Amy, a land services staff member, told commissioners the facility’s interim use permit (IUP), granted Jan. 19, 2021, included four conditions. Condition one—formal termination of an earlier conditional use and liquor license—had been satisfied. Conditions two and three required an annual written statement from an individual named in the original permit (Troy) that the facility was operating as licensed and provided for termination of the IUP when that individual was no longer involved. The applicant requested removal of conditions one through three (staff said condition one is already satisfied) to allow administrative transition to Ascension as operator.
Commissioners spent most of their discussion focused on what would replace the person-specific reporting and termination triggers. Staff and the applicant proposed three alternatives: (1) retarget the annual written statement to the applicant entity (Long Prairie Project Associates) rather than an individual; (2) identify a local title—such as an executive director (once hired) or the CEO of Ascension Recovery Services—as the named contact; and (3) tie any automatic termination trigger to changes that would require state relicensing (for example, a change in controlling ownership or a controlling individual under Department of Human Services rules).
Commissioners repeatedly emphasized a need for a single, accountable local contact and for transparency about ownership. They asked the applicant to provide a list of owners, and discussed temporarily naming Doug Leech (identified in testimony as an owner and CEO of Ascension Recovery Services) as the contact until the hire of a local executive director. The applicant representatives said construction and furnishing are complete, that licensure review is underway with the state Department of Human Services, and that an executive director and six key managers typically are hired about 60 days before licensure is final.
Several neighbors who live near the property urged the commission to deny the requested changes. Dean Robinson, a Morrison County resident, said the commission and past owners repeatedly modified conditions without delivering promised accountability and called for restarting the permitting process rather than making further alterations. "You guys promised us this," Robinson said, arguing that previous owners had left and new ones had not honored earlier commitments. Other neighbors raised safety and childcare concerns and asked why a detox unit appears to be present when earlier assurances were that detox would be located elsewhere.
After closing the public hearing, commissioners voted through the four required findings. The panel found the use would not overly burden roads or public utilities (Q1) and that it would not adversely affect groundwater, surface water or air quality (Q3). But the panel voted that the request could be detrimental to the use and enjoyment of nearby property (Q2) and that removing the person-specific termination condition could circumvent the intent of the IUP or conflict with the zoning ordinance purposes (Q4). A subsequent motion to recommend approval of the amendment failed in a roll-call vote; the chair said the planning commission will recommend denial to the county board of commissioners. The county board is scheduled to consider the recommendation July 14, 2026.
The commission and staff agreed on some possible redrafted language—retargeting annual statements to the owner entity or a title, and requiring land services be notified within 30 days of any change in the named contact—but commissioners said those changes alone did not address broader neighbor concerns about accountability and long-term ownership turnover. The commission’s vote preserves the original condition structure for now by sending a denial recommendation to the county board.
The meeting ended with routine minutes approval and adjournment.
