Rehab center proposed near Santa Fe faces opposition
Neighbors say facility could bring safety and water concerns to area southeast of city
TAOS — Randall Staton said there’s something freeing about the fresh, cool air, blue skies and wooded environment that envelopes Shadow Mountain Recovery Center.
Moving around the 11-acre property like he was born there, the executive director of the 13-year-old rehabilitation center in Taos said the facility’s isolated, mountainous terrain is ideal for helping clients heal.
“It’s pristine,” he said. “They can breathe fresh air, see the Milky Way at night and find that kind of peace they are looking for.”
It’s here, he said, where miracles can happen, as men battling addiction — alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling — come to terms with the trauma, grief and loss driving those compulsions.
The program’s success has prompted the private nonprofit Shadow Mountain — which also has a treatment and outpatient center in Albuquerque — to move toward opening a similar 11-acre facility near Santa Fe. The proposed site is at the top of a dead-end dirt road leading off of Old Las Vegas Highway, past the intersection with U.S. 285. The plan is to use existing buildings to house up to 21 female clients battling addiction.
But getting final approval for the project is no sure thing, and the process has caused consternation for nearby residents.
Shadow Mountain officials submitted a development permit and site development plan to Santa Fe County some six months ago, and about a half-dozen state and county agencies, including the Santa Fe County Growth Management-Land Use Department and the New Mexico State Historical Preservation Division, have reviewed the application.
A county spokeswoman said they recommended approval, but county officials are still reviewing the proposal.
And Shadow Mountain officials still have to overcome at least one more physical barrier, finding a way to improve and widen the Calle Del Barrio dirt road leading to the property.
The project may face other hurdles as well. More than 100 residents in the community surrounding the proposed site have signed a petition protesting the project. And at least one neighbor said the group is talking to an attorney about filing a legal complaint to try and stop the initiative.
They say they live in a tightknit neighborhood of friends, family members and children, and would fear for their safety if a rehab center opened, concerned some of the facility’s clients might rob them or harm their kids.
They also worry about their wells drying up if Shadow Mountain uses an excess of water.
“This is like a little community, where people keep an eye on people who are coming up here,” said Lorraine Garcia, a neighborhood resident who wrote a letter of concern to the county land use department asking it to reject the Shadow Mountain proposal.
“We are worried about the people there being trustworthy — and about the water,” she added. “The water, water, water is what we are all worried about, too. This is not the right place for them.”
Gloria Lovato, another resident in the area, said she fears some of the clients could strike out in the program and turn to burglary in the area to fund drug or alcohol dependency. She is not the only neighbor to point out that the proposed facility is on a small hill overlooking the rural collective of houses around it. The nearest house is about 500 feet away from the site. (In Taos, Shadow Mountain is more than a mile and a half up a dirt road leading off a main road, where there are some residences and an old hotel.)
“I’m not judging these people,” Lovato said. “I will pray for them.”
Lovato maintains her opposition to Shadow Mountain is not a case of “not in my backyard.” She said many residents in the area purchased land there decades ago to get away from any kind of development proposals.
But, she added, “If they wanted to build a facility for the elderly, a care center, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. It’s the drug and alcohol thing that gets to me.”
One nearby resident, Victor Vigil, wrote the county land use department
a letter saying he is one of those people saying “not in my back yard.” He, too, cited safety and water use concerns while pointing out Calle del Barrio is private, not maintained by the county and would likely need expanding.
He said in the letter he has concerns that the Shadow Mountain facility has no security plan to prevent residents from wandering off the property.
Shadow Mountain administrators say their clients remain under surveillance 24 hours a day.
“In our 13 years-plus of existence, we have never had issues with a client leaving our program to cause vandalism or theft at any neighbor’s property,” Manny Nsien, chief operating officer for Shadow Mountain, said in an email Wednesday.
The Taos center, housed in what Staton believes are prewar wood buildings once attached to a dude ranch, may strike a visitor as a step back in time. Clients are not allowed access to computers or cellphones. They bunk in housing units that look ready-made for Boy Scouts.
Clients take part in a 12-hour-plus daily regime of workshops, group and individual counseling sessions, and exercise programs overseen by a network of 24/7 professionals who want to show them a way to break free of their addictions.
“They’re not just clients, but like family members,” said Casey Odell, regional director of client care for Shadow Mountain. “We look at each one’s health and wellness and behavioral tendencies that may lead to relapse.”
The facility can handle up to 18 clients. Staton said he tells clients, “You’re not gonna be healed in four weeks, but we can help you build a foundation so you can build a house of recovery.”
He said the Santa Fe property has a well in place that will serve it for decades, adding Shadow Mountain has “followed all county laws and have met all county code expectations” regarding water rights and usage.
Staton said the vast majority of the clients at the Taos facility — who range in age from 18 to their mid-70s — are working professionals and not “homeless. Most are stable, not psychotic, not dangerous.” He said most are fighting to overcome loss, grief and abuse, among other challenges.
He said some people have “erroneous, paranoid ideations about having a rehab facility in their neighborhood.”
Nsien said the initiative also has received written support from more than 100 Santa Feans. Many told him they are excited that this will not only bring jobs to the community — about two dozen, Nsien said — but muchneeded medical care. He said residential beds for these services are in short supply in the Santa Fe area.
Staton and Odell said the men in the program generally come from professional or artistic fields that range from education to ministry to auto mechanics to medical backgrounds.
“These people are not crazy,” Staton said. “They are fantastic guys serious about dealing with their addiction. They are your friends, your co-workers, your teachers. They are your neighbors.”
County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said if the county ultimately approves the Shadow Mountain project, neighbors can formally file an appeal.
“We’re still in the very early stages of this,” she said.
Garcia said the community is gearing for a battle if the county grants approval, noting neighbors are “prepared to fight in court if we have to.”
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They’re not just clients, but like family members. We look at each one’s health and wellness and behavioral tendencies that may lead to relapse.” Casey Odell, regional director of client care for Shadow Mountain