PORTSMOUTH — A final attempt to operate a small residential substance abuse treatment home in a residential neighborhood in Portsmouth was denied this week.
Portsmouth City Council members on Tuesday unanimously shot down the application from Portsmouth-based Urban Life Substance Abuse and Outpatient Services to operate the treatment home at 21 Royal St. in the Fairville area of the city. The vote upholds a recommended denial from the Planning Commission last month, when city staff and commissioners noted the property lacks adequate off-street parking space for guests, recreational space and sufficient landscape buffering.
The roughly 1,300-square-foot home is located in an urban residential zoning district that allows low-to-medium-density development, surrounded by residents on all sides. Operators intended to serve individuals temporarily living there as they recover from alcohol and drug abuse.
Joe Hector of Urban Life Substance Abuse and Outpatient Services previously said the home, built in the 1940s, would accommodate up to six people, including a staff member working on-site around the clock. Hector likened it to a “group home” setting with individual and group therapy sessions, along with programming and resources focused on prevention and employment assistance.
The denial comes not long after council approved another proposed residential substance abuse treatment facility in the city’s developing innovative district. That project will convert an assisted living facility called Mayfair House Senior Living into a drug and alcohol treatment facility at 901 Enterprise Way, located in what the city has dubbed the “LINC” district.
The area is zoned general mixed use for commercial development. The 27,000-square-foot facility sits on 1.3 acres and will serve a maximum of 85 residents for 30 days at a time, according to the application.
Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, [email protected]