Neighbors say plans to build recovery center sprung on them last minute

CCA board says it reached out to
community in multiple ways for several weeks. 

Neighbors concerned about plans for an addiction recovery center on Ferry St. in La Crosse have another week to prepare arguments against the project for the city council.

Some people living near the proposed site for the recovery center claim nobody told them about the project until the last couple of weeks. The Coulee Council, however, said it has spent several weeks informing neighbors about the building plan.

“We have reached out to community members, going door-to-door, twice,” CCA board member Nick Passe said. “Having listening sessions at Coulee and, also, doing a presentation to the Washburn Community Association back in, I believe, late May.”

People living in that area worry that having addicts near their homes will hurt the neighborhood. CCA director Cheryl Hancock thinks otherwise.

“It’s our belief that our building will, in fact, help revitalize this neighborhood,” she said. “We’ve planned for an attractive, single-story building with common meeting spaces that could be utilized by the neighborhood association.”

Thursday is when the proposed zoning change for a new Coulee Council on Addictions (CCA) building will be debated.

Finding a location for the project that fits the criteria wasn’t easy.

“We tried to find a location that was not near a tavern, bar or night club,” CCA board president Dan Radtke said. “A very difficult task, at best.”