Graham Council Approves Autism Therapy Center on Washington Street

An applied behavior analysis therapy center for children with autism will open at 602 Washington Street in Graham after the City Council voted March 29 to approve a conditional rezoning of a 1955 retail building, clearing the path for Mebane-based Peachtree Learning Collaborative to serve local families who have long lacked convenient access to that care.

Peachtree's owner, Brianna Hutchinson, presented the center's plan directly to the council, describing one-on-one ABA therapy and small-group instruction for clients ages two through 18 with autism and developmental disabilities. She also outlined family-centered services and caregiver training designed to extend therapy into the home. Hutchinson pointed to a tangible problem driving the project: Graham-area families are currently forced to travel significant distances for ABA services or sit on lengthy waiting lists before their children receive care.

The building itself is a one-story, 1,435-square-foot structure built in 1955 and occupying a 0.22-acre lot. It sits directly in front of a small apartment building and adjacent to a former manufacturing property. Nomadic View, LLC, registered to Graham artist Janet Ecklebarger, holds title to the parcel.

The council conditioned its approval on operational limits crafted to keep the center's footprint compatible with the neighborhood. Peachtree agreed to cap daily client visits at approximately four to six, stagger appointment times to spread arrivals across the day, and hold staffing to between three and seven people on site at any one time. No medical procedures will be performed at the location, and any outdoor play area must be screened from neighboring properties to address noise and sightline concerns.

The center's planned hours run 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, with weekend appointments available by request.

Because the approval is a conditional business rezoning rather than a straight reclassification, those operational limits are binding, not advisory. The structure locks in community protections while still allowing Peachtree to operate at a scale where a small number of families each day could avoid drives to Burlington, Greensboro, or beyond for a service their children need every week.