The Oneida County Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council’s permit with conditions.
That’s after the Planning and Zoning Committee rejected their permit application for a youth recovery and wellness center in April.
“Today's a good day.”
That was the CEO of the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Bryan Bainbridge’s reaction to the Oneida County Board of Adjustment’s decision.
The board overturned the Planning and Zoning Committee’s rejection of the nonprofit’s conditional use permit for a 36 bed Adolescent Recovery and Wellness Center in the town of Cassian.
In September, Cassian passed a resolution against the construction of the center and they’ve been firmly opposed throughout the process.
The Planning and Zoning Committee rejected the permit, saying that it did not meet their standards and that GLITC failed to prove the center wouldn’t negatively impact Cassian residents.
They heard arguments that property values would drop, as well as concerns that GLITC would put the property into a sovereign trust and that residents of the center would pose a risk to neighboring properties.
Board of Adjustment Chairman Harland Lee disagreed with prior characterizations of the center, saying that appropriate safety measures were in place and reminding the board that admission to the center is voluntary.
“There's no credible evidence to indicate the property values would be substantially impaired or diminished by the establishment of the conditional use,” he said.
Lee told the committee “one needs to understand and respect that there is no tribe or tribal organization that would ever totally give up their sovereignty,” and instead proposed a partial waiver of sovereignty, as suggested by GLITC’s counsel.
He challenged previous concerns that GLITC would place their property in a sovereign trust in the future, outside of the control of the town.
“Neither of these issues is a requirement of obtaining a CUP in the first place. Nor have such requirements been made of any other CUP application. And to do so, would be without merit, as we've seen, and would also be seen as prejudicial by any court,” he said.
Lee said that GLITC had proven the center would be open to both Native and non-Native youth, enriching the area.
In his conclusion, he said he hoped GLITC and the town would work together to solve issues as they move through the construction phase.
Patty Francoeur, chair of the town board of Cassian, said she was extremely disappointed and planned to have a town meeting to go over the decision.
“We were opposed, but it does not mean that now that it's approved that we would sit there and not want the best for the town and the facility to be successful,” she said.
“I still state that I felt we weren't getting the full truth. I still believe that there were, say, lies,” she said.
Bainbridge said he was surprised by the approval and that he’s hopeful for those it'll positively impact.
He said he's going to meet with his Board of Directors to talk about next steps.
