City, Builders View Options After Choice of Jail Site

Shaking off a “state of shock” at the county’s decision to build a jail in the city that’s home to Disneyland, the Angels and the Rams, Anaheim officials and developers said Wednesday that they now are studying their alternatives.

Several developers said it was too early to say whether they would pull out of the Anaheim Stadium area, which is being converted to high-rise and commercial office complexes, if a jail is built there.

Court Date

Meanwhile, Sheriff Brad Gates is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge William P. Gray this morning to show cause why he should not be held in contempt for having more than 1,500 inmates in the Orange County Jail three times in February. Gray set a limit of 1,500 inmates effective last Jan. 15 and 1,400 effective April 1.

A year ago, Gray found Gates and the county Board of Supervisors in contempt for not heeding his 1978 order to improve conditions at the main men’s jail in Santa Ana.

Under pressure to find a site for a new county jail, the supervisors voted Tuesday to build a $138-million, maximum-security jail on county-owned land at Katella Avenue and Douglass Road, about half a mile from Anaheim Stadium.

Although a final decision has not been made, word that the Anaheim location has been designated a primary site brought about 80 phone calls to City Hall on Wednesday, Mayor Don Roth said.

‘Very Frightened’

“A lot of very elderly people in the area are very frightened. It’s almost devastating to them because they have such a peaceful life,” Roth said.

Roth said he supports taking legal action against the county. City Atty. Jack White would not say Wednesday whether he will recommend it.

Whether Anaheim would file a lawsuit against the county depends largely on whether the supervisors are committed to the Katella and Douglass site before conducting an environmental impact review, White said.

“I frankly heard a lot of statements yesterday (Tuesday) from supervisors taking a strong position on the Katella-Douglass site,” White said, adding that he hoped the county board “would be open-minded enough” to look at other sites.

While city officials are studying their options, so are developers with plans for projects in the area.

Phillip Quarre, president of Hartmann Corp., which has several properties in Anaheim, including one next to the stadium, had threatened earlier this week to pull out of Anaheim if the county chose to put a 1,500-bed jail in the city. But on Wednesday, Quarre echoed other developers when he said a decision could not be made hastily.

“Like so many in the city of Anaheim, we’re in a state of shock,” Quarre said. “People just don’t want to have criminals next door to them.”

Attorney Floyd Farano, who represents a developer planning about 575,000 square feet of offices on the northwest corner of Orangewood Avenue and State College Boulevard, said his client (Pacific Lighting Real Estate Development) and other developers plan “some pretty strong fights” against the proposed jail.

“There’s a deep concern,” Farano said.

Mike Lewis, vice president of the Koll Co., said his company’s project in neighboring Orange--one of the largest planned for the area--would not change because of a jail two to three miles away in Anaheim. The Koll Co. won approval from Orange city officials earlier this month to build two 24-story office towers, two six-level parking structures and two restaurants on a 12.5-acre site between State College Boulevard, Orangewood Avenue and Hollister Street.