Warren County hearing on Restoration Ranch zoning shifts to continue as residents press safety, school-cost and police-data questions

A Warren County zoning hearing on a proposed planned-unit development to host Restoration Ranch on a nine-acre Shawan Road parcel drew hours of testimony Thursday as residents, township trustees, school officials and law enforcement raised safety and fiscal concerns.

Opponents said the property’s steep hillside, a single hairpin driveway and nearby homes and a trailer park make the location unsuitable for a residential treatment facility for juveniles. "I feel like now I would have to have some concern," said Connie Hilly, who said her property backs up to the parcel. Several neighbors described past "walkaways" and a handful of thefts tied to children who left the program’s current site in Monroe.

The sheriff, who said he would "remain neutral on this," provided call-for-service figures and warned that incident counts may understate community impacts because juvenile incidents sometimes register under other addresses (for instance, where a stolen vehicle is found). He said his office was preparing for a possible increase in calls and urged the board to review Monroe’s records and the applicant’s revised supervision plans.

Kings Local Schools board member Janelle Grath told commissioners that educating students who are outplaced for behavioral issues can be expensive. Drawing on the Warren County ESC’s rates, she estimated a per-student outplacement cost that can exceed $70,000 in some cases and said placing dozens of higher-needs students would shift millions in costs to local taxpayers and district operations.

Union Township Trustee Chris Cook and fellow trustees urged deference to township residents, saying testimony favoring the application included people with financial ties to the project and stressing that township emergency services and residents would bear most impacts. "Our board of trustees is unanimously opposed to this zoning change," Cook said.

The applicant responded to specific concerns with details on screening and supervision. Applicant counsel said Restoration Ranch screens out individuals with violent predatory histories, requires stabilization for substance misuse before admission, and has adjusted staffing and on-site procedures to reduce escape risk. Representatives also noted that county planning staff and the regional planning commission recommended approval with conditions; the zoning commission, however, recommended denial.

A former employee who identified herself as Candy Spence told the board she had recordings and documents alleging leadership prioritized growth and fundraising and raised questions about turnover and operational practices. The applicant’s counsel said that many of those employment claims were not relevant to the zoning determination and that the board should focus on whether the proposed use met zoning standards.

Commissioners pressed for clarifications on two points they identified as central to their decision: whether there are alternative sites in Warren County already zoned for this use, and whether the proposed zoning is compatible with the surrounding rural-residential character given nearby homes. Several commissioners said they were skeptical that the realtor’s search had turned up only one viable site and asked county staff and counsel to examine that claim.

With several factual questions unresolved — most notably more granular police-call data from Monroe and a clearer accounting of how education costs would be handled for outplaced students — the board agreed to continue the hearing so the parties could supply those answers and the public could review them. A motion to "continue the hearing in progress" was made and seconded and a roll call was requested; the continuation was scheduled for a later meeting with an evening reconvening to allow more residents to attend.

No final zoning decision was recorded in the provided transcript.