COUNTYWIDE : Board OKs Zoning Change for Jail Site

A new Ventura County jail moved a step closer to being built Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors approved a zoning change and a General Plan amendment.

The approval, over the objections of nearby landowners, allows the county to purchase a 157-acre site near Santa Paula for the jail complex. The project must still receive a conditional-use permit and undergo an environmental impact study before it can receive the go-ahead for construction.

In July, supervisors picked the site at Todd Road and the Santa Paula Freeway from among five under consideration. On Sept. 27, the County Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning and the General Plan amendment.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Robert Pinkerton, who grows lemons near the site, said the property is inappropriate for a jail because the Oak Ridge geologic fault runs under it. However, Bob Brateman, jail project coordinator for the county, said that the fault is at the south end of the property and that the construction is planned at the north end.

Pinkerton also said traffic from the new jail would kick up dust and harm his business. Traffic will increase on an access road that is very narrow, he said.

Brateman said the environmental impact report should be completed after the property is purchased.

The facility is needed because of serious crowding at the existing jail in the County Government Center, officials said.

The first phase of the complex is to cover 15 acres and cost $51 million, $31 million of which would come from state funds.

When it is finished in about three years, it will house 752 inmates.