A yearslong effort to build a residential treatment center for teenage girls in Sublette County hit another roadblock Tuesday when county commissioners voted 4-1 to uphold the expiration of a conditional use permit for the property.
The decision came after nearly two hours of testimony and discussion about whether sufficient work had commenced on the proposed 32,000-square-foot facility, called the Sanctuary, along Highway 191 between Pinedale and Bondurant.
For property owners Jason and Melinda Moyes, who moved their family from California to Wyoming in 2020 specifically to pursue the project, Tuesday's vote was another blow to a dream born out of their own daughter's struggles with mental health.
For county commissioners, the question came down to whether the Moyeses had complied with county regulations governing conditional use permits.
"We believe that the planning and zoning department's decision should be reversed," Alicia Evans, an attorney representing the Moyeses, told commissioners Tuesday.
But commissioners ultimately sided with the county's planning and zoning department, which determined that the permit had expired because construction had not sufficiently commenced within the required timeframe.
The Moyeses aren't giving up.
Melinda Moyes told Cowboy State Daily that their next step would be to take the matter before a district judge.
"We did not move to Sublette County to create a controversy," she told commissioners.
A Dream Born Out Of Tragedy
The Sanctuary began as a deeply personal mission for the Moyes family.
In 2014, trauma from a fire at their California home left their daughter with severe mental health challenges.
"I knew nothing about that world of mental health care," Melinda Moyes told Cowboy State Daily. "It became a very personal journey into navigating a bumpy road with our daughter's healing."
As the family sought help, Moyes said they repeatedly encountered a troubling reality: Finding appropriate residential treatment for adolescent girls recovering from trauma was extraordinarily difficult.
As they consulted professionals about their daughter's needs, they kept hearing a similar refrain.
There was no place those professionals could confidently recommend for girls recovering from trauma.
"People don't understand the shortage of resources of critical care for youth," Moyes said.
The experience planted an idea.
The Moyeses had built a successful real estate development business in California, but they began thinking about doing something different with their lives.
They wanted to create the kind of facility they wished had been available for their daughter.
Coming To Wyoming
Wyoming wasn't initially part of the plan.
Moyes said a friend who knew what their family had experienced told them about a vivid dream involving what such a facility might look like.
Three days later, another friend, unaware of that dream, sent them a real estate listing in Wyoming.
The family traveled to Pinedale for a weekend, toured the local schools and began imagining a different future.
"Our kids' hearts were transformed that weekend," Moyes said.
The family decided to pursue the project, even though they had no experience developing a residential mental health treatment center.
In November 2019, they purchased property about 30 minutes north of Pinedale, adjacent to the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
They moved to Sublette County the following May.
"The entire purpose for our family's move here was for the dream of the Sanctuary," Moyes said.
They continued operating their California real estate business remotely to help finance the project. They also purchased property near Pinedale's schools and built a subdivision intending to offer affordable housing in a county historically known for its high housing prices.
Meanwhile, they hired architectural and engineering firms to help bring the Sanctuary to life.
"We know about building but not about building residential treatment centers," Moyes said.
Four Years Of Work, But No Lodge
In fall 2022, the Moyeses sought a zoning change for the property to allow development of the Sanctuary, which they envisioned as a residential trauma treatment facility serving girls ages 12 to 17.
The request sparked controversy.
"That was when our eyes were opened for the first time that it wasn't going to be an easy road," Moyes said.
She said some residents misunderstood what the project would be.
Some called it a "hippie hospital." Others believed it would house convicts or cater exclusively to wealthy women from Jackson Hole.
"Nope, that's never been the intent," Moyes said.
The county ultimately approved the zoning change and conditional use permit in 2022.
But obtaining county approval was only one step in a complicated process.
The Moyeses began working with the Wyoming Department of Family Services on requirements for the proposed facility, a process Moyes said led to substantial changes in the building's design.
Even details such as the capacity of washing machines had to be addressed.
"No doubt there's a learning curve because this is a big project," Moyes said.
DEQ Permit Comes Late
The family also pursued a permit from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.
Moyes said that permit was not issued until September of this year, a month after the county notified them that their conditional use permit and building permit were being revoked.
She described the DEQ approval as the last major hurdle before construction could begin.
"No one is going to start a very expensive building if you don't even know if you have the permit from the state," she said.
By then, however, the county had determined that the Moyeses had not met the requirements to keep their conditional use permit active.
The central disagreement is whether the work they had completed over the previous four years was enough to satisfy those requirements.
The Moyeses maintain that substantial work on the overall project had commenced, even though construction of the main treatment lodge had not.
"There's no shortage of things that have commenced," Melinda Moyes told commissioners Tuesday. "It's just that the lodge itself has not been constructed."
Evans argued that the conditional use permit did not establish a specific construction milestone for the lodge.
The county's position was that the permit had expired because the required work had not commenced within the applicable time frame.
Who Is Keeping Track?
The Moyeses also questioned why the county continued interacting with them on the project after the date officials now say the permit expired.
According to their account, November 2023 came and went without the county notifying them that the conditional use permit was no longer valid.
Moyes said the county continued processing project-related matters without raising concerns about the permit.
Her family continued investing time and money in the Sanctuary, she said, only to learn in August that the county considered the permit to have expired years earlier.
Commissioner Doug Vickery pushed back on the suggestion that the county should have warned the property owners.
"I understand what the validity of the project could be, but I also understand what the regulations are," Vickery said. "It's on the owner to know what the regulations are. That's not the county's responsibility."
Commissioner Lynn Bernard agreed.
"The onus resides on the applicant and not on the county that it's time to renew," Bernard said.
For the Moyeses, the issue is more complicated.
They contend that the county's continued involvement with the project, coupled with the work they had undertaken, gave them reason to believe the permit remained valid.
Dispute Over Property Access
The commissioners also heard conflicting accounts about the county's attempts to inspect the property and determine how much construction had occurred.
Melinda Moyes said the county paid for professional satellite imagery of their property without their permission before they received the first call informing them that the permit was in jeopardy.
Haley Ruland with the county planning and zoning department said she reached out June 11 to request an inspection of the property but was denied access.
Ruland said she also traveled to the site with another planning and zoning staff member and a sheriff's deputy to check on construction progress.
They were unable to see enough from the available vantage points to assess the work, she said, so the department relied on aerial imagery.
Vickery questioned former planning and zoning administrator Doug Fornstrom about whether he had encountered similar situations during his tenure.
"If you wanted to check on a project and the applicant said no, you can't come in, what would you have done?" Vickery asked.
"I have never been denied access to a site," Fornstrom replied.
Evans countered that the department was looking specifically for evidence that the lodge had been constructed, something the Moyeses never claimed had happened.
"If you're looking to find a lodge, it's not there," she said. "Nobody is trying to hide the fact that the lodge isn't constructed."
The dispute illustrated a fundamental difference between the two sides: County officials were focused on the lack of construction of the main facility, while the Moyeses argued that the work already completed on the larger development should count toward keeping the permit active.
Is It Even A Public Facility?
Tuesday's discussion also took an unexpected turn when Vickery questioned whether the proposed Sanctuary should be considered a public facility.
At one point, he turned to Google for a definition.
After reading what he found, Vickery said he wasn't convinced the Sanctuary fit that description.
"I'm not sure we're talking about a public facility here," he said. "I think we're talking about something entirely different."
He acknowledged the source of his definition.
"That's what Google told me," he said.
Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich reminded Vickery that the question had already been considered when the conditional use permit was originally approved.
"It was determined this is a public facility," Melinkovich said, explaining that the designation was not the issue before commissioners Tuesday.
"That question has been asked and answered many years ago," he said.
Vickery wasn't ready to concede the point.
"I will not debate that with you now, but I will next time," he replied.
A Difficult Decision
As commissioners began discussing the appeal, Mack Bradley acknowledged the complicated timeline and conflicting information.
"This is a tough one," he said, referring to the many dates involved and information he believed remained unresolved.
In Bradley's view, the property owners had been given ample time to move the project forward.
"You've had four years," he said, adding that he had seen little tangible construction progress on the property.
Bradley also questioned whether the delay in obtaining the DEQ permit adequately explained why the lodge had not been built.
He characterized the delayed permit as a crutch.
"I struggle with moving forward with this," Bradley said.
Vickery also expressed reservations.
"I can't go forward with the project as it sits right now," he said.
Commissioner Sam White took a different position, saying he had voted to approve the project in November 2022 and remained supportive of it.
He introduced a motion to reverse the planning and zoning department's decision, leave the conditional-use permit intact and require the Moyeses to reapply for a building permit.
The motion died for lack of a second.
Bradley then moved to uphold the planning and zoning department's decision to allow the conditional-use permit to expire.
That motion passed 4-1.
A Personal Toll
For the Moyeses, the conflict over the Sanctuary has extended far beyond permitting questions and construction schedules.
Melinda Moyes said the controversy surrounding the project has taken a painful toll on her family, particularly her children.
She described an "emotional tidal wave" that she said has plagued her home.
In one particularly disturbing incident, Moyes said, her son was cornered in a school locker room and threatened by someone who said they would skin the family alive because of the Sanctuary.
Those allegations were not independently verified by Cowboy State Daily.
"That's when we knew this is going to be a lot bigger fight than we thought," Moyes said.
Despite the controversy, she maintains that the need for specialized treatment for girls recovering from trauma has not diminished.
She believes the Sanctuary could provide a resource that is difficult for families to find.
"There's a lot to be learned in the dream of trying to make it happen," she said.
What Comes Next?
Tuesday's vote leaves the Sanctuary's future uncertain.
But Melinda Moyes said the family has already devoted years of work and substantial resources to the project and is not ready to abandon it.
She told Cowboy State Daily that they intend to seek review of the commissioners' decision in district court.
For now, the dispute comes down to two very different interpretations of the same four years.
Moyes told commissioners the Sanctuary's mission can be summarized in a few words:
"See her. Know her. Honor her. Walk with her. And restore hope."
Those words, she said, represent what her family wishes had been available for their daughter.
"We believe every girl needs to be seen beyond her inherent circumstances," she said.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
