The U.S. Department of Justice has announced plans to file a lawsuit alleging that the Montezuma County Commission’s August 1999 denial of a proposed youth treatment center was in violation of civil-rights law.

The suit, which has yet to be officially filed, will charge that the county violated terms set in the federal Fair Housing Act by unlawfully discriminating against potential residents seeking rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addictions.

In a letter to county attorney Bob Slough, Housing Civil Enforcement Chief Joan A. Magagna states that a civil complaint will be issued, "(b)ased on information obtained through an investigation conducted by this office (that) suggests the county’s decision to deny the application was based on the disability, race, color and/or national origin of the prospective residents."

The proposed Eagles Nest Adolescent Center saw heated opposition during public hearings last summer on whether a high-impact permit should be granted for the program. It would have operated out of the Lost Canyon Lodge, a former bed-and-breakfast off Road 35.3 situated in an upscale, forested neighborhood south of Dolores.

The minimum-security facility would have housed up to 20 teenage males suffering from alcohol and drug abuse and either sentenced to or enrolled in the program through some other agency or family.

A roomful of neighbors, including the county sheriff, expressed concerns about increased traffic, road damage, and crime in the residential area if the treatment center were allowed to be built.

Citing problems with the project that exceeded regulations established in the county land-use code, regarding traffic and law-enforcement coverage, the commission voted 2-0 to deny the permit.

"We need to stick to our guns," said Commissioner Gene Story of the Department of Justice’s request to negotiate a settlement. "We opposed the location, nothing more and nothing less."

The commissioners stressed the importance of standing by their decision because they believe it is upheld by the land-use code, noting it is a locally created, regulatory document intended to control growth and preserve rural values.

"That is why we have the zoning, so high-impact projects can’t just go wherever someone wants them to go," Slough said.

Slough was given the go-ahead by the commission to deny the Housing Department’s request to settle out of court, which may prompt the civil complaint to be officially filed. Slough explained that a settlement agreement could involve the county paying monetary damages up to $50,000 and include injunctions against the commission relating to housing matters and land-use rules.

"If we would have said that they couldn’t go anywhere in the county, then that would be one thing, but we did not say that," he said.

However, neighborhood fears that the facility would bring roaming criminals and increased break-ins from potential escapees constitutes civil-right violations if used as a basis for denial by the commission, the Department of Justice is claiming.

The pending suit, authorized on Nov. 16 by the Federal Civil Rights Division and Colorado District Attorney General, will argue that the "County’s actions appear to have been based on public opposition to the . . . home. . . on the ground that its prospective residents would be persons who are in recovery from alcohol or substance abuse and/or Native American."

At last year’s public hearing, John Brock, the treatment center’s organizer, assured the commission and those opposed that clients would be carefully screened to exclude those with a history of violence, that security and staff would be sufficient, and that limited visiting times would keep traffic to and from the log-cabin facility at manageable levels.

His attorney, Hazen Brown, said that it was not clear what additional impacts the center would cause over the building’s recent use as an overnight lodge, and that mitigation of potential impacts had not been discussed enough.