An addiction treatment program that has previously fielded concerns from Lynchburg neighbors is seeking to expand its services to a property on Westerly Drive.
Sobrius’ move requires approval of a conditional-use permit, which will be evaluated at a public hearing during Wednesday’s planning commission meeting. The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in the council chamber of city hall.
Sobrius is requesting to use the 5-acre property and its 19,000-square-foot building as a group home and substance use treatment center for up to 36 people seeking addiction recovery. According to planning commission meeting materials, the property is zoned as an R-4 high-density residential district, where large group homes are permitted upon approval of a conditional-use permit.
The property is currently owned by The Miller Home for Girls, a nonprofit that provides both short- and long-term housing and guidance to girls who cannot live with their families due to safety concerns and health issues. The building was listed for sale in April, according to Zillow.
Sobrius has been operating substance-use treatment programs in Southwest Virginia for more than four years, according to the conditional-use permit report. Its main campus is in Galax, and additional programs are offered in Bassett and Lynchburg.
Matt Feehery, the CEO of Sobrius, said the company is always looking for new ways to serve communities that have the greatest need for its services. Sobrius first expanded to Lynchburg this summer by opening an outpatient treatment office on Timberlake Road and a group recovery residence on Mimosa Drive, he said.
“As we continue to serve Virginians, we’re looking for opportunities to locate in areas where there’s critical need and where we can be closer to the people that are pursuing our services,” he said. “That’s really been a part of our organization’s growth plan for years.”
The state Health Department tracks emergency department visits for drug overdoses as one measurement of the prevalence of substance use in Virginia localities. In 2024, the state averaged 46.8 overdose visits per 10,000 emergency department visits. Lynchburg’s average was nearly double, at 86.8 per 10,000 visits. Lynchburg’s 2024 drug overdose death rate was comparable to Virginia’s average, but that data has not yet been finalized, according to the state Health Department.
Some Lynchburg residents raised concerns about neighborhood safety when the Mimosa Drive recovery residence opened in August. The city’s zoning division received the first complaint on Aug. 11, city spokesperson Josh Quintero said in an emailed statement. At the Aug. 26 city council meeting, Lynchburg resident Glen Robinson spoke on behalf of the “concerned residents of Ward I” during the public comment period.
“While I truly want these individuals to have another chance and be free from addiction, I also want my kids to feel safe in their own backyard,” he told city council members. Robinson said his backyard faces the Mimosa Drive recovery house.
Robinson said that residents of the home often gather on the porch and walk along the property line unsupervised, which makes parents wary of letting their children play outside. He also cited concerns about Sobrius’ lack of publicly available certifications that vet its operations.
Recovery residences are regulated by the state and do not require local zoning approval, Quintero said. As a result, city officials did not interact with Sobrius prior to late August when, prompted by residents’ concerns, they checked to see if Sobrius was in compliance with state code and had the certifications that Robinson had drawn attention to.
State code defines a “recovery residence” as a housing facility that provides alcohol-free and illicit-drug-free housing to individuals with substance abuse disorders, but does not include clinical treatment services. Operating organizations must be certified by the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and hold accreditation from one of two regulatory organizations, according to state code.
City officials found that Sobrius was not in compliance with state code at the Mimosa Drive property and gave the company a 60-day window to make the necessary changes. The 60-day period is ongoing, Quintero said, and “no further enforcement can take place until that period has elapsed.”
Feehery said that Sobrius has always had state certification for its locations across Virginia. The company is in the process of achieving accreditation from one of the regulatory agencies for the Mimosa Drive location, he added, to be compliant with the second element of state code.
“We already had a permit to operate at that Mimosa location, but there was an additional certification that was requested, and we want to follow all those guidelines,” he said. “We’ll be in good shape.”
Sobrius’ Timberlake office offers outpatient services for up to 16 men and women, Feehery said. Patients can commute to treatment from their home or can stay in the Mimosa Drive home, which can host up to eight people at a time. Those residents are driven to and from the treatment office by Sobrius staff and supervised on a 24/7 basis, according to the conditional use permit report.
If approved, the new Westerly Drive location would combine those services into one building, with substance-use treatment offered in a residential space that also provides counseling, community activities and assistance with finding jobs, housing and additional treatment if necessary.
It’s all important to Sobrius’ holistic continuum of care, Feehery said.
“I think that misconceptions and stereotypes about people that need programs like ours often get in the way of the reality of the fact that the people that are in treatment want the same things everyone else does. They want to improve their life, they want to get back with their families, and if they’re not working, they want to get back to work,” he said. “And we work hard to assist people with all those matters that go well beyond their initial issues with substance.”
Sobrius will keep its Mimosa and Timberlake locations open, regardless of the outcome of the Westerly Drive property, Feehery said. The company’s leaders had already decided to make Mimosa Drive their home in Lynchburg when they learned that the Westerly Drive property was for sale. But the Westerly property is too good to pass up, he said, with its indoor layout and outdoor recreation space already suited for a group home environment.
After Wednesday’s public hearing with the planning commission, Sobrius’ request will need to be approved by the Lynchburg City Council, tentatively on Nov. 12, according to a public notice.
In the meantime, Feehery said he’s hoping to get to know the neighborhood around Westerly Drive, which includes single-family homes, apartments, a dental office and an assisted living facility, according to the conditional-use permit application. He said he plans to host a meet-and-greet this month where neighbors can learn about Sobrius and voice their concerns and ideas before plans are finalized.
“I can tell you that we are good neighbors,” he said. “What we’re here for — our role — is to help people get in a better position to accomplish what they want to in their life.”
