Orem approves agreement with celebrity rehab center

OREM — If good fences make good neighbors, then the Cirque Lodge — an upscale drug and alcohol rehab center with high-profile clients such as Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate Olsen — should get along better with the residents of the northwest Orem neighborhood where it is located.

The Orem City Council approved a new development agreement for the business Tuesday night.

The new agreement calls for a new masonry fence along the southern and western boundaries of the property and requires that the center clean up after horses used for therapy, that the horses be kept at least 25 feet from the property line and that flight logs be kept to verify that a helicopter used by the lodge operates within existing guidelines.

Bruce Baird, attorney for Cirque Lodge and its owner, Richard Losee, said the agreement was a good example of compromise.

"Both sides gave up things to make this happen," Baird said. "We think this is a good resolution of the issues between the neighbors and Cirque Lodge."

In addition to the 110,000-square-foot studio in Orem, which was built in the 1970s as a television studio for the "Donny and Marie" show, Cirque Lodge also operates a center near the Sundance Resort in Provo Canyon.

— Marc Haddock