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Planning commission pauses consideration of Bar-None CUP and an ordinance change after public safety and notice concerns
Summary
Nowthen planners and Volunteers of America sought to align the Bar-None residential treatment campus with current zoning via an ordinance amendment and amended conditional-use permit; after extensive public comment on public-safety impacts and notification, the commission continued both hearings and directed expanded notice and further staff review.
The Nowthen Planning and Zoning Commission on March 24 opened public hearings on an ordinance amendment to change how state-licensed residential treatment centers are regulated in the RRA district and on an amended conditional-use permit (CUP) application for the Bar-None campus, operated by Volunteers of America.
Planner Mr. Nash told commissioners that records for an older CUP are incomplete and that the staff-initiated item would align the long-running land use with current permitting frameworks. Karina Forest Perkins, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Minnesota and Wisconsin, and Katie Herzelle, the organization’s vice president for health and education, described a campus that has provided residential treatment, education and behavioral health services for more than 70 years under state licensure and CARF accreditation.
Public commenters raised concerns about two linked issues: service and safety impacts, and the procedural reach of an ordinance amendment. Several residents and at least one council member urged the commission to broaden mailed notice, to consider sheriff’s and ambulance call records, and to preserve tools to address violations. Jeff Pilon told commissioners that converting an interim use permit (IUP) into a CUP could make it harder for the city to step in if operational problems arise because CUPs run with the land. Ken Glazer and others said the facility has generated outsized law-enforcement and emergency-service calls, and asked the city to account for those costs.
Volunteers of America representatives responded that a CUP remains discretionary, that VOA is a nonprofit operating under state licensure which regulates staffing and safety practices, and that the organization is a significant local employer. VOA offered facility tours and asked staff and commissioners to work collaboratively on clear, enforceable conditions. VOA also disputed claims that it is the only facility of this type in the state, clarifying it is the only locked level-six facility in Minnesota.
Given the volume of public comment and newly submitted attorney edits to the draft findings, staff recommended the commission take comments and continue the item to give staff and VOA time to reconcile conditions and notice concerns. Commissioner Parrott moved, and the commission approved, continuing the public hearings to next month and expanding mailed notice for the continued hearings; staff was also directed to post the ordinance amendment prominently on the city website and Facebook page.
Next steps: staff will coordinate with the city attorney and VOA to revise draft findings, consider broader mailed notice (the commission discussed extending notices up to 5,000 feet for a related hearing), and collect sheriff and emergency-service reports for review.
