Get jail out
of F'ville, residents tell comm. By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer
Fayette
County commissioners got an idea what to expect
at their upcoming public hearing on plans for a
new jail and courthouse during their business
meeting last week.
A
parade of 18 residents strode to the microphone
during the public comment portion of the meeting,
16 of them to express their displeasure with the
county's plan to expand the current county jail.
This
is a bitter pill and it will not be
swallowed, said Terri Crump.
Fayetteville will be known as the place
where the big jail is, said Stephanie
Weaver.
Each
speech in opposition to the jail was met with
applause and whoops from about 40 residents who
attended in support of the speakers.
Two
residents, A.J. VanLandingham and Brent
Hostetler, received about half the volume of
applause when they made comments in support of
the jail expansion plan.
It's
going to have to go somewhere, said
Hostetler, and the present location would
serve as a pretty good example and a warning to
potential criminals that that's where they're
going to be going.
I
hope we can look at facts and not let emotion
dictate what we have to say, said
VanLandingham.
Commissioners
have purchased land to add to the county's
previously owned acreage around the current jail
and judicial complex, creating a 65-acre tract on
which they hope to put the jail and courthouse
with plenty of room left over for a future county
administrative office building.
The
acreage is bordered by Lee Street on the west,
Johnson Avenue on the north and Jimmy Mayfield
Boulevard on the east (there's no street
bordering the complex on the south).
That
location is too close to homes and schools,
opponents say. Would you live within four
miles of a jail? Brian Malinowski asked
commissioners.
Commission
Chairman Harold Bost said following the meeting
that his own home is within about five miles of
the jail, adding that in Fayette County, it would
be impossible to find a location that is more
than four miles from subdivisions.
The
entrance to Whitewater Creek, where Bost lives,
is just under five miles from the current jail.
According
to the plan, the existing jail will be renovated
to house only maximum security prisoners, and two
pods (one medium security and one minimum
security) will be added, increasing its holding
capacity from 75 currently to 459 when finished.
The
design includes two future pods that, if built,
would eventually increase the jail's capacity to
843.
Underground
passages will connect the jail and new
courthouse, and the current judicial center will
be renovated and used as Sheriff's Department
offices.
Residents
object to the traffic they believe expansion of
the complex will create, the impact of such large
government buildings on Fayetteville's
history-based downtown revitalization efforts,
and safety problems they believe will be
increased with more inmates living at the jail
and more accused criminals coming to court.
Alternate
solutions offered by the opponents range from
moving the entire complex out of downtown
Fayetteville to scaling down the expansion so
that the buildings are less obtrusive, and less
expensive.
More
details on the county plan will be presented at a
public hearing Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the County
Administrative Complex.
During
last week's meeting, commission Chairman Bost
vowed that commissioners will listen to comments
as long as residents want to make them.
We'll
stay here until sunrise if that's what it
takes, he said.
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