Courtesy of Newport Academy
A fast-growing, nationwide teen mental health rehabilitation company is proposing to convert the former Oakley School into a teen residential treatment center, and the Oakley Planning Commission is soliciting feedback at a public hearing Wednesday night.
Newport Academy is applying for a conditional use permit from the city to operate the site with as many as 30 female and 30 male clients aged 13 to 18, with about 200 full- and part-time employees. Oakley School public hearing
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 17
Where: Via Zoom with the meeting ID 820 258 4629 and passcode 777869
Info: oakleycity.com/
At an informational session with the Oakley City Council last week, a Newport Academy leadership team said the firm is growing quickly and has locations on the East and West Coasts. Its philosophy, they said, is to treat the underlying mental health issues that manifest in self-destructive behaviors.
Park Record file photo
A few weeks after the rodeo last July, Oakley officials decided to temporarily ban development to address what they saw as shortcomings with the city’s land-use plans.
City Planner Stephanie Woolstenhulme said the move wasn’t made because of a big development on the horizon, or to get ahead of an anticipated influx of applications.
“It just needed to be done for a good long time,” Woolstenhulme said. “… Conversations about subdivisions, how we want Oakley to look in the future, have been a long time coming.”
The city paused almost all new development, she said, allowing applications for small home improvements to proceed but not those for new home construction or from landowners looking to subdivide their property.