Anaheim : Council Agrees to Hire Consultant on Jail Issue
To ensure that Anaheim’s concerns regarding a proposed jail in the city are addressed, the City Council agreed Tuesday to spend up to $5,000 to hire a consulting firm.
Phillips Brandt Reddick of Irvine is expected to help city officials respond to the county’s May 1 notice that it will prepare an environmental impact report reviewing possible new jail sites. The city’s response will address issues of importance to Anaheim, city officials said.
“We don’t want to go down the pike and find the county missed something because they didn’t think it was important and we did,” said Planning and Community Development Director Norm Priest said.
Anaheim officials and residents, as well as representatives from businesses such as Disneyland and the California Angels, pledged two months ago to oppose a jail in their city. The county Board of Supervisors decided March 18 to designate the northwest corner of Katella Avenue and Douglass Road as the primary site for a new men’s jail.
Alternate sites to be studied include one by Disneyland, on Ball Road and Harbor Boulevard, and two locations in Santa Ana.
The county has been under pressure from a federal court order to ease jail overcrowding.
Key issues to be addressed in the environmental impact report include the visual impact of the jail and its compatibility with neighboring land uses.
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