Posted: 9/18/07
Chances of downtown CJC bleak
By Charlie Warner
Argus Editor
The chances of the proposed Houston County Criminal Justice Center (CJC) being located in downtown Caledonia became slim to none Sept. 10 when four of the five members of the Caledonia City Council indicated they would not approve any variance or street vacation requests that are essential for the current plans.
The issue surfaced at the end of the council meeting when Mayor Mike Morey told the council the cityís engineering firm indicated the traffic study the city wanted to have conducted would cost between $10,000 and $12,000.
"Before we go to this expense, I want to know how many of you support the current plans to have the CJC located downtown," Morey said. "The site the county picked will greatly impact the neighborhood. I feel it will drastically alter this area of town and I do not feel it is in the best interests of the city to put an 82,000 square foot building there."
"When our city attorney spelled out when and why a variance to our zoning laws are acceptable at the public hearing, that kind of spelled it out for me," Councilman Randi Vick said.
Vick was referring to the July 11 public hearing that attracted about 150 persons. At the meeting City Attorney Tim Murphy explained what criteria was taken into consideration with variance requests. The two major considerations were if the variance would impact neighboring properties and if denial of the variance would be a hardship.
"In my opinion, this large concrete building doesnít fit in an R-2 (residential) district," Councilman Paul Fisch said. "I feel it would drastically impact any residential neighborhood. After speaking to many Caledonia residents, I cannot support the downtown location, and would not approve the variance or street vacation requests."
City Administrator Bob Nelson pointed out the county did revise the CJC plans so the only variance required if Option B was used would be the number of parking stalls.
"By moving the CJC to the east side of the court house, changing the size of the parking stalls, and doing away with the extended skylight, the county only needs one variance and will still need to vacate a portion of Washington Street," Nelson noted.
Morey agreed Option B would decrease the number of variances required, "but I donít like the downtown site with either option. Before we get a lot of costs incurred, we need to know where we stand. There are parking, traffic, stormwater run-off issues. And we also need to take into consideration if the persons living in that neighborhood really want it there."
Fisch had said following an earlier council meeting the CJC issue has by far been the most controversial he had faced during his many years on the council. "For me, it was ëwould I want to have this large concrete facility located in my backyard?í The answer was ëno, I wouldnít.í The vast majority of Caledonia residents I have spoken to are opposed to the downtown location. When I consider the criteria for granting a variance, I canít go along with this. It would adversely affect neighboring property owners, and itís not hardship, because the county has other options."
When Morey asked each councilman if they supported either one of the countyís options for the downtown CJC location, Councilmen Gary Klug, Bob Standish, and Fisch said they did not. Vick said she did not want to make a comment either way.
"Because it takes a four-fifths majority to approve a variance in our current zoning ordinances, I do not feel it would be in the best interest of the city to spend the estimated $10,000 to $12,000 for Davy Engineering to conduct the traffic study," Morey said.
Public hearing Sept. 26
At the July 11 public hearing the city council approved a 60-day extension of the countyís variance and street vacation requests, and scheduled the continuance of the public hearing to Wednesday, Sept. 26. The meeting will be held at the cityís municipal auditorium, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The council will review the countyís requests for Option A, which requires four variances and two street vacations, and Option B, which calls for one variance to current city zoning ordinances and one street vacation. It is anticipated the council will make a final decision on all of the requests at that time.
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