County Files Suit Over Pact That Blocks Jail in Santee

San Diego County filed a lawsuit Friday challenging an inter-agency agreement that effectively blocks the allocation of sewer capacity needed for a 600-bed men’s jail the county plans to build in Santee.

Deputy County Counsel Lewis Zollinger said the suit asks the Superior Court to invalidate a recent agreement between the Padre Dam Municipal Water District and the Santee Redevelopment Agency that requires the county to obtain sewer capacity through the redevelopment agency.

The county charges that the agreement is a veiled attempt to block construction of the jail, a temporary facility adjacent to the Las Colinas County Jail for Women that was approved by the Board of Supervisors in July. The City of Santee bitterly opposes construction of the jail, which would be located in the center of town.

Pact Narrowly Approved

The agreement was narrowly approved by the water district’s board of directors in late October. It transferred authority over sewer service for the 112 “equivalent dwelling units” the county needs for the jail to the redevelopment agency, which is composed of Santee City Council members.

Rich Robinson, director of the county’s Office of Special Projects, said the agreement requires Santee to deal with the county’s request for sewer capacity within 30 days. If unable to do so, the agency was to turn the task back over to the water district--which was limited to providing sewer service only to projects outside the city’s redevelopment zone. The jail is within the zone.

“The fact is we know they (Santee) will do anything and everything possible to stop us from building this jail and this is a perfect example of that,” Robinson said. “There’s a serious philosophical issue here. The county is concerned when one quasi-governmental agency works in concert with another to prohibit the development of a public safety adjunct which serves 2.25 million people. The entire county is affected by this project, not just the 50,000 people living in Santee.”

The lawsuit, which names the City of Santee, the redevelopment agency and the water district, alleges that all three agencies abused their discretion and set up the agreement to preclude the county from addressing public safety needs through construction of the jail. It seeks $100,000 in damages as well as legal costs. A hearing is set for Feb. 16.

Santee officials could not be reached for comment Friday. Under the agreement, the city absolved the water district and its board of any liability in legal challenges.

The jail is designed as a temporary facility to house 500 inmates who will be displaced when an expansion project at the Vista jail begins in May. The Vista construction project is expected to take about a year.

If the legal challenge is unsuccessful, the county still has alternative sources for sewer capacity, among them the Lakeside Sanitation District.