SANTA PAULA : Deal Offered on New Jail, Roads
Most property owners near a proposed site for a new county jail in Santa Paula would not oppose the facility if the county agreed to share the cost of improving area roads, a representative for the owners said Thursday.
The spokesman, Bob Cole, said he represented a majority of about 20 property owners in a 160-acre industrial area off Todd Road near Briggs Road, southwest of Santa Paula.
Cole said that the area is serviced by private two-lane roads with high commercial traffic and that property owners would be willing to cooperate with the county in paying for road improvements if a jail is constructed at the site.
“There are certain improvements we would like put in our area, and we thought it would be nice if we could share those with the county,” said Cole, director of the Santa Clara Waste Water Co.
Cole testified on behalf of the property owners at a county environmental hearing on the proposed site earlier this week. Cole cited other advantages to a jail at the Briggs Road site, including 10-minute access to the Santa Paula Freeway.
The site of a new county jail has been controversial. A county environmental report recommended using donated parkland east of Santa Paula for the jail. Other proposed sites include Pancho Road south of Camarillo, Potrero Road farther south and Hueneme Road east of Port Hueneme.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
