Supervisors Favor Halving Musick Jail Expansion

Orange County supervisors agreed Tuesday to slice nearly in half a plan to place 7,968 prisoners at the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Lake Forest--but only if the proposal is approved by a recalcitrant Irvine City Council.

A majority of the new Irvine council, to be seated Tuesday, has opposed expansion of Musick, which sits on unincorporated county land, saying it would create a jail larger than San Quentin State Prison. The city joined Lake Forest in suing the county’s plan to expand Musick, now at 1,256 beds, and to bring in maximum-security prisoners.

The Lake Forest City Council unanimously approved the smaller expansion Monday. Homes in Lake Forest are within 700 feet of the jail.

A split Board of Supervisors followed Tuesday, approving no more than 4,400 medium-security beds, contingent on Irvine’s support. Chairman Chuck Smith, Tom Wilson and Todd Spitzer voted for the scaled-back jail expansion; Supervisors Jim Silva and Cynthia P. Coad were opposed.

Spitzer praised the revised plan, noting that both Irvine and Lake Forest are “staring down the barrel” of a maximum-security jail.

“The entire decision about whether or not we can solve the long-term jail overcrowding and [inmate] early release problems in this county is now on the back of the city of Irvine,” Spitzer said after the closed-door vote.

Incoming Irvine Mayor Larry Agran said the new council is unlikely to back the compromise.

“It’s time for the Board of Supervisors to get busy doing what everyone in Orange County wants them to do--find an appropriate jail site far removed from businesses and residential neighborhoods,” Agran said.

Lake Forest Mayor Richard T. Dixon said he hoped the county would keep the expansion offer on the table even if Irvine balks. Sheriff Mike Carona urged Irvine to support the deal.

Silva and Coad said they opposed the agreement because of a provision that requires the county to find a remote site for a new jail. The county should build out Musick, Silva said. Coad worried that several possible remote sites are within her district, including Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim Hills. The county spent $7 million studying a Gypsum Canyon jail in the mid-1980s before a political shift on the board scuttled the proposal.

Added to the mix is an appellate court decision expected by Tuesday addressing an earlier judge’s order for the county to revise its environmental review. The court will rule on a lower-court order for the county to beef up its environmental review of its expansion plan.

If the court rules in the county’s favor, county planners could move ahead with the larger Musick plans.