It is unfortunate, and probably unbeknownst to most of the citizens of
Houston County, that they find themselves in a precarious situation.
Houston County has the oldest jail in the State of Minnesota. After
years of study, the County moved forward with a proposal to expand its
current campus and build a new jail (County Justice Center) next door
to the current County campus. The efficiencies of doing so benefit all
of the citizens of the County in cost savings over the next 20 years.
The County’s attempt to place the new County Justice Center at its
current operational site was voted down by the Caledonia City Council.
The City determined that over 580 parking spaces would be needed for a
facility housing prisoners. How that number was reached is still not
explained. Even more unusual, since a jail has been part of the county
facility since 1875 was the determination by the Council that the jail
is not permitted as a use of that site, and inappropriate given the
character of the neighborhood. Looking at a zoning map of the City,
there are parcels less than a block away that are zoned as industrial.
Why would an industrial zoning in a neighborhood be appropriate, but an
expansion of a pre-existing County facility be inappropriate?
While these decisions of the Caledonia City Council are problematic,
and no doubt will lead to increased expenditures and thus tax burdens
on all of the citizens of the County, even more damaging to the
citizens is the City’s interpretation of its zoning ordinance.
By law, a county is required to place its jail in the county seat. The
county has no choice in the matter. Currently, there is nowhere in the
City of Caledonia where a new County jail is a permitted use. How can
that be? An essential government function, required to be undertaken
within the City of Caledonia by state law, is not allowed, as a matter
of right, to be sited anywhere? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or
a lawyer, or even a City council member, to see that there is something
wrong with that picture.
The County has been attempting to work with the City to see if it can
find another site in which to place its jail. Hopefully, the citizens
of the County are aware that a new jail has to be built. The old jail
is not in compliance with current Department of Corrections
regulations. Currently, the jail continues to be licensed as a 90 day
facility in part on the basis that the Minnesota Department of
Corrections knows the County is moving forward with an attempt to build
a new jail. But right now the County is completely stymied.
It has nowhere to go. It has nowhere to turn. If it does not show
progress on moving forward with the building of a new jail, a very real
possibility exists that the current jail could be ordered shut down
with all prisoners having to be housed in other facilities. The cost
and expense of housing all County prisoners elsewhere, coupled with the
employee costs of transporting prisoners back to the County for
proceedings, is something the citizens of the County need not bear.
The County has gone to the City and asked them to amend their ordinance
so that the County jail could become a permitted use somewhere within
the City boundaries. To date, the City has refused to do that. Instead,
they have said they would make it a “conditional use.” “Conditional
use” means that even if a proposed building is sited in an appropriate
zoning district, the City can determine whether or not to allow the
building at any particular location, and can further order additional
“conditions” be met before approval. What that means is that the County
would have no ability to know ahead of time that any site it selects
would ultimately be acceptable as a site for the County jail. And,
under the current City procedures for granting conditional use permits,
the City could, at its whim, determine that different requirements for
lot size, or yard dimensions, or height and size of buildings, or
off-road parking spots, should apply. In other words, the City could
decide on any number of special “conditions”, and the County would not
know ahead of time what requirements it might have to meet.
I wonder if the citizens of Caledonia would feel that that was a fair
and reasonable situation for them to be in. If, in wanting to build a
house in a residential neighborhood, it was “conditional” on the City
council approving of it. Would they feel that it was fair and
reasonable that the Council could determine there should be different
height regulations, different setbacks, different parking requirements,
for them than for their neighbors? How would the businessmen of
Caledonia feel if they could not put a business in the business
district, unless and until they satisfied the City’s requirements, not
knowing what those requirements were ahead of time?
The County is required to undertake a substantial building project in
building a new criminal justice center. The costs associated with
planning to develop any single site are huge. Do the citizens really
want those costs to be potentially wasted because the County does not
know ahead of time whether that actually is an acceptable site?
There is a fundamental problem in the manner in which the City Council
is dealing with the County on this project. There is no fairness
involved. There is no thought or adherence to the principle that in
regulating land use, landowners should know what the standards are and
what they can do. The County has asked that the City permit a jail in
some part of town. The City Council, in its wisdom, has decided that
that is unacceptable. The County is stymied in its attempts to comply
with Minnesota law.
Unless there is a drastic change of course, it will be the citizens of
the County that suffer due to the City Council’s decisions.
Scott T. Anderson of the law firm Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A.
of Minneapolis, is being retained by Houston County to adivse the
county with the CJC issue.
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Caledonia will benefit from placing the jail in the location the County wishes to build. Council, get real and start doing your job. You represent the "CITY OF CALEDONIA" not the very small groups that are protesting the jail to save 1 house! We citizen's of Caledonia are part of Houston County and you council and Mayor are not working for the greater good, you are working for but a few. DO THE RIGHT THING! I hope the city of Caledonia citizens open their eyes on who is representing us, I mean "the few", and when it is time for elections, people run for office. We need forward thinking people who will do the right thing, not cave to pressure.