THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504270117
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The City Council on Tuesday approved a use permit and architectural plans for a new 875-bed regional jail to be built on a 43-acre site in the Hattonsville neighborhood.
The regional jail, which could hold as many as 1,500 inmates in the first phase, is expected to open in 1997. The jail will serve Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton and Portsmouth.
The council approved the jail 6-1. Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons was opposed to construction of the jail.
``We are trying to clean up our image,'' Clemons said. ``This is not going to add to a positive image.''
Clemons said he also fears that the regional jail will only grow to the size of a state prison.
While no plans are currently in the works, there is room to double the size of the regional jail - meaning it could eventually accommodate 3,000 inmates. The city's permit, however, requires that any future expansion must receive approval and be permitted through the council.
Councilman Bernard C. Griffin, who had been opposed to the project, approved it after the city worked out a compromise with the nearby residents who have fought the plan to put a jail in their neighborhood for more than five years.
The city has built a park in the neighborhood and is working on drainage and street improvements. The city has also ensured the residents that the jail will be landscaped and that the neighborhood will be buffered from the jail.
Griffin asked for assurances that the jail will have sophisticated surveillance equipment.
Clemons, however, was unhappy with the compromise.
``I think it's a slap in the community's face to give them crumbs from the table and put a jail 2,000 feet away from their homes,'' he said.
Griffin said: ``These were the things the community asked for. I switched my vote based on that.''
Portsmouth will receive $2 million from the sale of the site to the regional jail authority. Over the next 20 years, the city will also receive $250,000 annually in lieu of real estate taxes. In addition, the other three cities will pay 25 percent of Portsmouth's share of construction costs.
The state will pay up to 50 percent of the costs estimated to be around $60 million.
KEYWORDS: REGIONAL JAIL PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL by CNB