Board to Look Again at County Jail Expansion : Corrections: The supervisors had tentatively voted in 1990 to build a new jail on farmland near Santa Paula.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors, voicing concern over the financial and environmental costs of building a new county jail on farmland near Santa Paula, voted Tuesday to re-examine an alternative: expanding the jail at the County Government Center in Ventura.

The supervisors’ unanimous vote came in the wake of a public hearing earlier this month at which dozens of critics told the board that an environmental study of the Santa Paula site is seriously flawed and the jail should not be built on the flood plain near the Santa Clara River.

Just 18 months ago, county officials dismissed the Government Center jail plan as more expensive per square foot than the Todd Road site in Santa Paula and too limited to accommodate the great increase in population expected over the next two decades.

The Santa Paula site, on the other hand, has received strong support from county Sheriff John V. Gillespie. “I too am concerned about the environment and the protection of our green spaces. But without reasonable compromises in land-use, our opportunity to enjoy them will be ravaged by the criminal element,” he said in an open letter last week.

On Tuesday, the supervisors said they had concerns about issues raised in the environmental report--particularly the risk of flooding and earthquakes, and the cost of reducing those risks.

A final vote on the Santa Paula environmental study, which must be certified by the board before construction can begin, is expected in six weeks.

The board tentatively approved the Santa Paula site in 1990 and since then has spent about $10 million to purchase the land, design a building and study its impact.

At Tuesday’s meeting, however, supervisors told staff that they would like to take another look at Supervisor John K. Flynn’s proposal to expand existing facilities before moving forward with the Santa Paula project.

Their decision was applauded by Santa Paula residents and by environmentalists, who praised the board for being open-minded and sensitive to public comment.

“I think the board is realizing that this site has very grave consequences,” said Donna Pinkerton, a board member of Citizens to Save the Greenbelt. “Today’s decision is very significant. I’m now very optimistic that we’ll get a fair hearing.”

But board members stopped short of removing their support for the Santa Paula site.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee, whose district includes Santa Paula, said comments made at the Jan. 8 public hearing raised questions about the inmates’ safety and the county’s liability in case of an earthquake or flood.

“I think we need to bring back the question of building at the Government Center,” said Erickson Kildee, who faces reelection in June.

First-term board members Maria VanderKolk and Vicky Howard, who were not on the board when it voted for the Santa Paula site in 1990, said they also would like to study the Government Center proposal.

“I wasn’t here when the site was picked, and I’d like to have a discussion about site selection to feel more comfortable about the process,” VanderKolk said.

“We want to go back and revisit, and make sure we answer all the questions and refresh our minds on why we picked” the Santa Paula site, Howard said.

Buoyed by his colleagues’ conditional support, Flynn criticized the Santa Paula environmental study and said building a new jail would drain the county of much-needed funds.

“Any problem can be mitigated,” he said. “The problem is the cost, and nobody knows the cost. What we have is a site located in a delta, between three major water sources.”

Flynn said the county would save millions of dollars by expanding the County Jail and the Rose Valley and East Valley sheriff’s stations. His proposal also calls for placing most alcohol and drug offenders in diversion programs.

First-phase construction of the Santa Paula jail would cost $54 million and house 752 inmates, according to county documents. Flynn said he believed that cost estimate is low.

Flynn’s plan has a price tag of $40 million and would create 500 new jail spaces, he said.

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, whose district includes the Government Center, was the only board member who didn’t raise concerns about the environmental report.

“It’s important to remember that there’s nothing unusual about the questions raised in the public hearing,” she said. “It’s all part of the process.”

County Public Works Director Arthur E. Goulet, who is in charge of overseeing the Santa Paula jail project, said the board members’ comments did not surprise him.

“Some decisions made in the distant past need to be revisited, because memories tend to fade,” he said. “And the two members who were not involved in those decisions need to be reassured that the site selection was based on good information.”

Goulet defended the board’s choice of the Santa Paula site. “If we mix economics, location and ability to proceed in an expedited manner, it is perhaps the best site,” he said.

“We made some decisions, and they are now behind us. We have selected and purchased a site. Now we need to make it work,” he said.