23-05-2025
Investigation: Portsmouth neighbors concerned about Nansemond Indian group home
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The reactions to the new owner of a single-family home in the established Pinehurst neighborhood range somewhere from 'not in my backyard' to 'I don't have a problem with it.'
The property on Wake Forest Road was purchased last September by Fishing Point, the healthcare affiliate of the Nansemond Indian Nation, but it's unclear what it will be doing at the home.
Pinehurst is an established Churchland neighborhood off High Street, where the homes date back to the 1950s. And what's also been around for decades — the kind of controversy surrounding the new neighbor.
Previously: Nansemond tribe brings medical and mental health care to underserved communities
'This is a nice neighborhood,' said Andrew Jenkins, who lives across Wake Forest from the Fishing Point property and has children who play in the neighborhood. 'I'm not saying they're bad, but why throw a stick in the balloon and pop it for no reason.'
Fishing Point already has existing operations on London Boulevard in Portsmouth and Forehand Drive in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake. Neighbors say they've heard various versions of how the home on Wake Forest Road will be used.
10 On Your Side knocked on the door during a visit in April. A woman inside repeatedly responded, 'I'm not at liberty to say,' when we asked about how the property would be used and who would live there.
A Fishing Point van was parked in the driveway emblazoned with the message 'Transformative Mental Health Care for All.' Some neighbors wonder if that means recovery from alcohol and substance abuse.
'I get it,' Jenkins said. 'They're trying to better themselves. But why do it in a residential neighborhood?'
Next door, a different perspective.
'([I have no problem] with them, no sir,' said Wayne Brown, who recently moved to the neighborhood from Texas. 'Those people need a place.'
City records show the 1951 Cape Cod home has 3,600 square feet of living space. Fishing Point bought it last September for $550,000, more than twice what it sold for ($260,000) just three years earlier. They've been pouring money into it ever since.
'I noticed they did a lot of repairs and it seemed like an endless amount of improvements,' Brown said. 'They made the place look very nice.'
'It's zoned residential,' said Portsmouth Deputy City Attorney Jeff Miller, outside last week's meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Fishing Point has a current case before the BZA, and they were on the docket last week but their main attorney didn't show and it was continued to May 28. 'They had not complied with the zoning requirements to operate their group home,' Miller said.
And despite the well-manicured lawn, the case gets into the weeds legally when it comes to the definition of a group home 'which under state law is not treated as a business. It's treated almost as a single-family residence,' Miller said.
Miller said with the proper permit and then a business license, Fishing Point can operate its home in the Portsmouth neighborhood, even if they're not welcome.
'End of the day, nobody wants this,' Jenkins said. 'When you work that hard to buy a house and the next thing you know things are popping up in the neighborhood. This has nothing to do with the neighborhood at all.'
Other neighbors told us off-camera: 'I'm not comfortable with this with all the kids in the neighborhood' and 'I understand you're doing a story, but I don't want any retribution.'
Again, Brown doesn't see a problem.
'I'd rather they have a nice looking place to keep them than some slum, he said.
10 On Your Side reached out to the attorney for Fishing Point and its media contact, but got no response. If Fishing Point gets the necessary permit for the group home, and then a business license, it looks like they are on Wake Forest Road to stay.
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