Two physicians bought a house on Red Brae Drive in the Town of Mukwonago for more than $1 million and secured town approval to turn it into an eight-person group home called Legacy Recovery Center, but the property still sits empty while neighbors organize against it. Roughly 100 of them have formed a watchdog group questioning whether the review process has done enough to vet the operation before it opens.
The Town of Mukwonago approved zoning permit Z25-44 on December 18, 2025, allowing a community living arrangement for up to eight disabled residents in the SE Suburban Estate district, according to Concerned Families of Mukwonago. That approval came alongside separate state paperwork: as reported by FOX6 News Milwaukee, the owners submitted state permits to operate the property as a “medically monitored treatment facility.” The zoning permit itself requires the applicant to obtain and maintain all Wisconsin licenses needed to operate the arrangement, and to provide proof of that licensure to the town before the home can open, per the same local group.
Residents Dig Into the Paperwork
Neighbor Toby Hartman and about 100 others formed an online group, Concerned Families of Mukwonago, to research the proposed operation. The group says it has identified a gap between how community-based residential facilities get approved locally and how they get licensed by the state. Hartman has said there is a gap in the review process for community-based residential facilities and state licensing, and that he believes the town could not stop the operation once a state permit is granted — a conclusion attributed to Hartman himself rather than to any town or state official.
Hartman has urged other residents to speak up and pay attention to that gap before the home potentially opens. The group's own filings describe the proposed facility as an eight-resident Community-Based Residential Facility under DHS 83, alongside separate applications for Wisconsin DHS 75.53 and DHS 75.54 residential substance-use treatment certifications. The DHS 75.54 application lists Legacy Recovery Center as the provider and Richard Miller as the primary contact for the property at W332S9291 Red Brae Drive, according to Concerned Families of Mukwonago.
What a Medically Monitored Permit Would Allow
A medically monitored treatment facility permit would allow psychiatric services, medication issuance inside the home, and nursing care on site, according to FOX6's reporting. Under Wisconsin's own administrative code, a medically monitored residential treatment service is defined as totaling 20 or more hours of treatment per patient per week, with substance-use and mental-health treatment personnel providing assessment and care, per Wisconsin's administrative code. Separately, state law allows a town board to order a licensed community living arrangement to cease operating if the board determines it poses a threat to residents' health, safety or welfare, unless special zoning permission has been obtained, according to Wisconsin Statutes. Nothing in the available record indicates the Town of Mukwonago has made that determination here.
Legacy's Arizona Track Record
Concerned Families of Mukwonago's worries are shaped partly by what happened when Legacy Recovery Center tried something similar in Mesa, Arizona. Dr. Ehab Abballah and Dr. Roland Segal, both members of Legacy Recovery Center LLC, bought a $1.7 million home there, and Mesa later rescinded its occupancy approval after determining the use required a special-use permit. The Mesa Tribune reported Legacy filed a $3.4 million claim against the city after it rescinded its occupancy approval and imposed a more stringent approval process.
Arizona's health agency had issued Legacy a license allowing the Mesa home to house up to 10 residents, the Tribune reported, and Legacy began accepting patients there on March 27 after hiring staff and improving the five-bedroom house. Mesa then issued a decision on April 15, 2025, finding the facility was actually a transitional community residence requiring a special-use permit. Legacy has claimed it spent roughly $250,000 improving the property, preparing for state licensure, and hiring and training staff before the dispute erupted. The company had previously won a different outcome nearby: the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a special-use permit in October 2024 letting Legacy's Chandler facility expand from 10 to 16 residents, per the Tribune's reporting.
Still Empty, Still Unanswered
Back in Mukwonago, the Red Brae Drive house remains empty, and FOX6 notes Legacy has not yet begun operating there. Legacy Recovery Center offers recovery services. FOX6 says it contacted the Town of Mukwonago by email and in person and was awaiting a response, and separately emailed questions to the state early Monday afternoon, with plans to update its story if either responds. For now, the core questions raised by Hartman's group — how the zoning approval, the Community-Based Residential Facility application, and the separate medically monitored treatment certifications fit together, and what recourse the town would have once state licensing is settled — remain open.
