San Mateo meeting draws sharp debate over proposed Horizon treatment campus at 101 North El Camino Real

San Mateo City Council held a special informational meeting Wednesday, April 15, where Horizon Treatment Services presented a plan to open a 69‑bed sobering, detox and residential treatment campus at 101 North El Camino Real. The meeting drew more than two dozen public commenters and hours of council questioning about safety, traffic, zoning and the state grant that funds the project.

Horizon chief operating officer Daria Yuzesh told the council the program would be licensed as a medical-model treatment facility and that nearly all admissions are voluntary. "Every single client who comes to Horizon is arriving to us on a voluntary basis," she said, describing intake risk assessments, a continuum from sobering to detox to residential care, and procedures for transporting clients at discharge.

Why it matters: Neighbors said the El Camino site sits too close to schools and single‑family homes and urged the city to back an alternative county site on Mahler Road (also discussed as "Mueller"/"Mahler" in public comments). Supporters said relocating the project could delay services for months or years. Horizon and several council members repeatedly stressed that today’s meeting was informational and that the council could not approve or block the facility at this session.

Public comment split sharply. In an organized presentation, a community speaker said "a vote for Mahler Road is a vote for listening to the community" and cited more than 500 letters opposing the El Camino location and the grant’s campus requirement and a projected 17,000 annual…