text: A Church of Scientology-backed organization is facing a bizarre land use battle over its plans to turn a patch of secluded in woods near the presidential retreat Camp David into a drug rehab center. Lawyers hired by drug rehab network Narcocon have argued that Trout Run, a property in Frederick County, Maryland, has historic significance because President Herbert Hoover once caught a fish at the site. Opponents view the proposed designation as a trick to circumvent current zoning laws for the 40-acre plot of land and create a drug rehabilitation program that some call dangerous. Narcocon, a Church of Scientology-affiliated drug rehab network, is trying to prove that a patch of land near Camp David is historic enough so that they can build a center for twelve patients . A Scientology-back real estate company bought Trout Run for $4.85million in 2013, and has been trying to change its land designation so that it can build a center that uses saunas and vitamin therapy for addicts . Narcocon, which uses sauna sessions and the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, has been sued in the past for wrongful deaths. It has denied wrongdoing. The group's treatment program claims that megadoses of the vitamin Niacin and spending five hours a day in a sauna for a month eliminates addiction cravings that are stored in the body's fat cells. Treatments at the center can cost more than $30,000 per month and typically last for as long as six months. Narcocon officials, who run more than 120 centers around the world, deny that the program tries to convert addicts to Scientology, though the group prominently features a quote from Hubbard on its website. The organization says that is focused on a secular approach to helping people overcome addiction. Its Maryland center would house 12 patients, with eight staff living there and eight living off-site. However, the current zoning laws for Trout Run, which includes a collection of stone cottages, classify it for resource conservation and do not permit any medical purpose for the site, according to the Washington Post. Though Narcocon says that it is non-religious and does not try to convert people to Scientology, its website features the religion's founder L Ron Hubbard (pictured) prominently . Placing the property on the county register of historic places would allow Narconon to conduct its program. The rehabilitation program was founded in 1966 and is based on the teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard. Narconon claims it is a non-religious, non-profit, non-medical . rehabilitation program with patients around the world. Its methods include . spending up to five hours a day in a sauna for 30 days straight and mega . doses of the vitamin Niacin. The hypothesis underlying the program is . that drugs and their metabolites are stored in the body's fatty tissues . for years, causing the addict's cravings when partially released later . on. But these can be flushed out through a regimen comprising elements such as . exercise, sauna and intake of high doses of vitamins, according to the facility's methods. This hypothesis does not enjoy . mainstream acceptance, and researchers and practitioners tend . to discount Narconon due to its connection with Scientology. No independent study that has not been funded by the center exist to confirm the supposed efficacy of its treatment, which has repeatedly been cited as curing 75 per cent of addicts. Since its establishment, it has faced considerable controversy over the . safety and effectiveness of its rehabilitation methods and the . organization's links to the Church of Scientology. Fees can sometimes reach more than $30,000 per month and centers bring in millions of dollars a year from patients. An aide of Herbert Hoover bought the property in the late 1920s and the president went on fishing trips there,  the Frederick News Post reported. Narcocon hired a consultant whose history of Trout Run said that Hoover 'reeled in a fine one-and-one-half pound trout' during a visit. 'No President was born or died there. No epic battles were won or lost, no proclamations penned, no foreign dignitaries lodged and feted,' local drug counselor Kristin Milne-Glasser wrote in opposition to the historic designation. She said that the area merits a roadside plaque at most. President Dwight Eisenhower and other Washington elites also fished at Trout Run during his time in office. Frederick County's Historic Preservation Commission ruled that the site is eligible to be voted onto the register because of its early 20th century architecture. Social Betterment Properties International, a real estate company tied to Scientology, bought the land in 2013 for $4.85million from a government official who had long been trying to sell it. Narconon has been working on building its center since. County councilors delayed voting on the measure two weeks ago so they could have more time to review the proposal and plan to grant or deny approval on Tuesday. Beyond questions of history, opponents to the rehab center have cited safety concerns about the mysterious organization being so close to Camp David and Narcocon's alleged checkered past. Celebrity Scientologists such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise have repeated Narconon's message about how it saves 75 per cent of addicts. Trout Run was first built and developed by an aide of President Herbert Hoover (right) in the late 1920s. It is located in a woods several miles from presidential retreat Camp David (left during G8 Summit in 2012) Trout Run in Maryland was used for fishing by President Hoover (right) and President Dwight Eisenhower (left) during their times in office (file photo, Colorado, 1954) However, the organization previously lost its license  in Georgia after the death of  28-year-old former Marine Patrick Desmond, who was being treated for alcoholism but died after allegedly trying heroin for the first time while in treatment. Previous deaths at Narcocon include three young people who  died within a year at a flagship Oklahoma facility, according to NBC. Hilary Holten, 21, was found dead in her bed at the center in April 2012 of unknown causes. Stacy Murphy, 20, died of an oxymorphone overdose in July. Gabriel Graves, a 32-year-old father of two, died of unknown causes in October 2011. Narconon denied responsibility for any patient deaths. The group's Arrowhead in Oklahoma was estimated to have brought in $10.88million in revenue in 2011. The group has already approached the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene about acquiring a license for its facility but has not filed an application. Its website says it currently runs 16 centers in the United States, though the only one on the East Coast is in Massachusetts. Narcocon and its rehab network have attracted criticism from residents in western Maryland for its checkered past, though celebrities such as Tom Cruise (pictured, 2004) endorse it . A Narcocon center in Oklahoma became the center of widespread scrutiny after the death of three people within a year, including 21-year-old Hilary Holten (right) and 20-year-old Stacy Murphy (left)
target: Scientology-connected Narconon wants to build center at Trout Run .
  Land use laws mean that it must prove site is historic in order to have a medical facility on the land in Frederick County .
  Scientology-affiliated real estate company bought land for $4.8million .
  Group contends land is significant because Herbert Hoover fished there .
  Organization has been criticized after string of mysterious deaths at centers that use saunas and megadoses of Niacin to treat drug addicts .