PORTSMOUTH — A residential facility to treat those recovering from substance abuse has been approved for Portsmouth’s developing innovative district.

Portsmouth City Council this week unanimously approved a project that will convert a former 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.

Attorney Grady Palmer, on behalf of the applicant, emphasized at the meeting the need for such a resource in Portsmouth for an underserved population. 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.

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The property is owned by Mayfair Alps LLC, with 901 Enterprise Way LLC listed as the applicant. Genuine Care Consulting was hired to complete the licensing and approval processes and help hire directors on behalf of Isaac Wettenstein, according to applicants.

The facility would be the second of its kind in the city and will accept Medicaid patients, according to applicants.

“It’s important that (these facilities) are institutional in nature, but it’s also important that (patients) not be institutionalized,” Palmer said. “It strikes a good balance between giving people access to institutional land uses and assistance but not isolating them.”

City staff and Portsmouth’s planning commission recommended approval. The facility will be staffed around the clock, including medical staff, and regulated by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services with surveillance cameras. The application also states patients would be drug tested up to twice a week.

City staff and the planning commission recently voted against another proposed substance abuse recovery facility due to its location and proximity to neighbors in the Fairville area, concerns with public safety nuisances and the size. But the council will have the final say. That project includes a roughly 1,300-square-foot home that would serve half a dozen patients at a time.

During the public hearing Tuesday before the council’s vote, only one Portsmouth resident spoke, questioning why the project wasn’t mentioned in a recent meeting with the city’s Economic Development Authority meeting.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/10/30/portsmouth-approves-substance-abuse-facility/