Search for Jail Site Down to 4; Anaheim Sets Special Meeting

Alarmed that a new Orange County jail may be built either next to Disneyland or Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim Mayor Don R. Roth on Saturday called for an emergency meeting of the Anaheim City Council to fight either possibility.

Roth’s call for a meeting Monday came after county Supervisor Ralph B. Clark confirmed that county officials have narrowed the search for a jail site to four locations. Two are near Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium, Clark said, and the other two are in Santa Ana.

“The citizens of Anaheim--a quarter-million of them--are going to be fit to be tied when they learn about these suggestions by the county,” Roth said Saturday. “We’re not going to put up with it.”

A report listing the sites will be presented to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

Under Court Order

The supervisors are under pressure from a federal court order to provide more jail space immediately to complement the county’s overcrowded jail in Santa Ana. Last week, the supervisors ordered their staff to report back by Tuesday on possible sites for a jail that would house 1,000 to 1,200 inmates and would be an interim solution until another, larger jail is built.

The search for the smaller jail apparently has been narrowed to county-owned land to save time and expense.

Roth said both Anaheim sites are owned by the county but worth millions of dollars on the commercial market. One site, an old trash-transfer location, is just north of Anaheim Stadium, fronting Katella Avenue and backed by the 57 Freeway. The other, according to Roth and Clark, is a county agriculture station at 1010 S. Harbor Blvd., just north of Ball Road and immediately next to Disneyland.

The Santa Ana sites are McFadden and Grand avenues and Fruit Street near Grand Avenue.

Clark Confirms Sites

Roth said he learned of the targeted sites from Clark on Friday. Clark confirmed the sites and said they are in no particular order of preference.

In Santa Ana, the school board, which had heard that the county is considering two sites there, voted Friday to try to buy the land itself. School board officials said the idea of a jail at McFadden and Grand is particularly repugnant to them because the district is building a new high school at the same intersection.

Clark and Roth similarly expressed dismay Saturday that a jail might be built in the prime Disneyland and Anaheim Stadium areas.

“The value of the land should be weighed,” Clark said. “The land is worth at least $10 million. To stick a jail on it doesn’t make sense.”

Also, Clark said, “it should be as close to the courts as possible. Everyone feels it should be close to the courts.” Transporting inmates from either of the Anaheim sites, he said, would entail “added cost, plus time delays. These are things that all have to come into consideration.”

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton last week called for the report listing county-owned sites suitable for a small jail and “close to street and / or freeway routes” for easy access to police stations and courts.

Roth, a candidate in the November election for the seat being vacated by Clark, said a jail at either site in Anaheim would be disastrous for the city’s tourism industry. And businesses in the area would suffer, he said.

“The Anaheim Stadium area is now a showplace in business and commercial use,” Roth said. “Building a jail there would have tremendous ramifications for the whole integrity of Anaheim Stadium.”

Roth estimated the value of the county land near Anaheim Stadium at $10 million and the site near Disneyland at $15 million.

“I can tell you that the Los Angeles Rams have already expressed their extreme disgust that a jail would be proposed so close to Anaheim Stadium, and the California Angels have indicated a similar alarm.” Both pro sports teams use Anaheim Stadium.

Roth said he had no specific plan of attack, as of Saturday, to fight the proposals. “I haven’t prepared my agenda yet,” he said. “This is something we’ll be talking over with our attorney. I also want to find out what the recommendations are of the grand jury, the police chiefs, the Probation Department and the district attorney’s office. There are a lot of questions we want answered.”

The mayor said that the call for the special City Council meeting was highly unusual. “I’ve been on the council without a break since 1976 and we’ve never had a special meeting in that time,” he said.