Orange : Council Votes to Oppose Branch Jail Expansion

The City Council, alarmed by the county’s plan to expand its Theo Lacy branch jail within the city limits, met in special session Thursday and voted unanimously to take steps opposing the plan.

Mayor Jess F. Perez, in an interview after the meeting, said the council will request from the county Board of Supervisors “a complete and full environmental impact report” that takes into account economic and sociological factors as well as environmental elements.

Perez said the county’s declaration that there is no significant impact from the jail expansion ignores the nearby shopping and office center, called The City, and the nearby residential areas.

Perez said the council also authorized hiring an attorney to advise “the environmental impact report procedure only.”

Perez said the council deleted from its action his proposal that the council threaten legal action if the county does not yield to the city’s demands. The language was deleted, he said, because the council is “hopeful that the county will cooperate and accommodate us and sit down and talk about this thing.”

County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish and Michael Ruane, manager of the environmental and special projects division of the county Environmental Management Agency, attended the council meeting to explain the county’s plan to increase the number of prisoners at the branch jail from 720 to 1,736.