Empty lot in Stuart may soon be site of recovery, detox center

April 26--STUART -- An undeveloped lot in Stuart could soon house the Dream Center for Recovery, a proposed 80-bed inpatient program for drug and alcohol detoxification, and rehabilitation.

The project already has received the unanimous approval of the Stuart Local Planning Agency. Now it heads to the Stuart City Commission

On Monday, the commissioners will consider approving a zoning change that would allow the empty lot on Indian Street to become zoned mixed use -- a designation that allows for both commercial and residential uses, including the construction of the treatment campus.

The 5-acre property at 1131 S.E. Indian St., on the north side of SE Indian Street, is approximately 550 feet east of its intersection with Southeast Willoughby Boulevard.

According to its proposal, Dream Center will include 19,126 square feet of rehabilitation facility, 12,000 square feet of office space and 11,000 square feet of medical offices.

Dream Center's nearest neighbor is Treasure Coast Hospice.

Christina Tucker, president of the nascent Dream Center for Recovery Inc. -- this is the company's first project -- said she took care in choosing the location for the center.

"Indian Street is shaping up into a medical corridor," Tucker said Friday. "We thought it was very appropriate."

City Manager Paul Nicoletti said city staff agreed.

"No one had a problem with it," he said.

In an email sent to the city, Tucker described the Dream Center as a "very high end, top notch facility."

The center will follow a 12-step abstinence-based program and will specialize in the treatment of chemical dependency, alcoholism and associated disorders.

According to Tucker, "clinical programs will differ in intensity and duration, with each level focused on helping the individual discover the issues and manage the feelings that lie at the very core of the illness."

Admissions will require insurance or private pay.

"We won't be serving the court-ordered or indigent client base," Tucker said. "The people we will be treating will more likely be corporate employees, bankers, engineers."

Patient admission will be voluntary, and clients can leave but, according to Tucker, historically, less than 5 percent of admissions leave against medical advice.

Even if the City Commission approves the zoning change, the legislative process is not complete: The plans must be shelved for a second reading, a requirement for all major zoning changes.

Nicoletti said the proposal will return to the Commission for a second reading in May.

According to Tucker, if the approval process stays on schedule, she could break ground in June.

Joe O'Grady, vice president, is Dream Center's only other officer.

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