Treatment centers? Not here, thanks

We live in an upscale neighborhood of homes starting at $1.5 million. We thought when we bought our house that this would be a safe place to raise our family.

Well, the owner of the home down the street has leased his property to a residential drug and alcohol treatment center. There is a constant flow of traffic in and out of the home and at least eight to 10 cars (belonging to chefs, massage therapists, personal trainers, caretakers, maids, etc.) parked along the street at any given time. There are 10 to 12 garbage cans out on garbage pickup day, and one of my children was almost hit by a car speeding away from there.

Since this business opened last summer, my car has been vandalized (window smashed, portable navigation system stolen) and my husband’s car has been egged.

We’ve been told by the association and property-management company that there is nothing we can do since the center has been licensed by the state and the state overrules local jurisdiction.

Somehow, other communities have managed to keep them out, but they’re popping up all over Newport, and it seems to be a very profitable business that caters to high-profile individuals.

We want this business out of here -- it doesn’t belong in a single-family residential community. If we don’t put an end to it, more and more are going to pop up. We love living here and want to protect the integrity of our neighborhood.

JOVONNA KINGKADE

Corona del Mar