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NEW LONDON — An addiction recovery center in New London recently received a conditional rezoning approval from the county for a three-acre tract of land that will create an expansion of the substance abuse group care facility.

With a unanimous vote from the Stanly County Board of Commissioners on May 12, Gateway of Hope is now able to offer support housing at 46461 Campground Road in compliance with the 2040 Stanly County Land Use Plan.

The drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center has operated on several adjoining properties and plans to potentially expand in the future.

It is currently in the acquisition process with Christian Recovery Centers, Inc. (CRCI), a Shallotte-based network of nonprofit drug and alcohol recovery centers.

Bailey Cline, the county’s planning and zoning director, noted that the land rezoning was an essential part of the process.

“In order for Christian Recovery Centers to purchase and operate from this property, their managing team met with the Technical Review Committee, which is composed of several different county departments,” Cline said. “They shared that their plan is to start with this three-acre parcel, which currently contains a building that will be renovated to an education center and storage. They plan to place a residence on the property in order to house six residents on site.”

Gateway of Hope Director Paul Wilkins told the commissioners that the plan is for a double-wide mobile home to sit next to an updated version of the previous building.

“We purchased this property a year ago this month and we have completely renovated the outside of it,” Wilkins said. “It looks like a brand new building, actually brand new, with roof siding and nice aluminum doors. The reason why we would like to set the double-wide there just to the back of that building is for the purpose of actually expanding our staff presence.”

Following the commissioners’ conditional land rezoning approval for the rehab center, they unanimously approved the appropriation of funds via resolution from the county’s Opioid Settlement Fund from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

The anticipated reserve balance for the fund is $1.2 million and the county is anticipating to receive $700,000 in additional funds during the fiscal year.

“Back in 2016 and 2017, we were one of the highest in the state for opioid deaths and opioid admissions,” County Manager Andy Lucas said. “Now we don’t even show up on the radar. We’ve made really significant progress in Stanly County, and I think the success of that is attributed to these nonprofits that have been working with us.”

In total, ten programs totaling $878,203 were approved for funding — Christian Recovery Centers, Inc. will receive $120,540 of its $230,000 request.