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| City board OK with jail downtown |
| By The Daily News |
| Published: 06/13/2006 |
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JACKSONVILLE, NC - Rhonda Parker's preface summed it up. “This is an item not new to the planning board,” Jacksonville's planning administrator told the developmental advisory committee Monday as it prepared to deliberate a precursor to the controversial downtown jail expansion for the second time in 30 months. The first time the zoning text amendment came across its plate, the board unanimously approved a resolution supporting the inclusion of penal facilities in the list of allowed uses in the downtown business district. Monday's outcome was only slightly different, as the board recommended the amendment for approval by a 6-2 margin. Sandra Wyrick and Rob Warden opposed the motion. Planning board member Chuck Quinn said he resented the “I'll take my ball and bat and go home attitude” taken by some City Council and Onslow County Board of Commissioners members in regard to the jail issue. Nonetheless, Quinn, the self-described “last person who wants to see a jail put down there,” made the motion to approve the amendment on the grounds of “the consistency of its use with existing buildings in that area. The resolution also called for the jail design “to include the spirit of the downtown (master) plan as submitted by Ms. (Allison) Platt.” Ironically, a letter by Platt dated May 13, 2004, was cited by Warden as the basis for his opposition to the vote. “As stated in the original master plan which the Onslow County Commissioners approved, the current location of the jail is not ideal, and it would be best for the future economic prosperity of the downtown if it moved to another location,” Platt stated in her letter, which went on to clarify the limited scenario for jail included in her vision. Wyrick said her “nay” vote came down to a matter of the jail being a “Band-Aid” for future detention facility needs. Willie Saunders, referring to the county's plan to move the justice complex to Burton Park the $60 million alternative to the three-story, 256-bed, $18 million jail annex appealed to his fellow board members' wallets. “That's a chunk of money, and it's going to come from our pockets,” Saunders said. The jail annex's next real challenge will come June 27 when the City Council will hold a special public hearing to discuss the amendment. If the amendment is approved, the county would then need to submit a request for a special-use permit, meaning another trip back through the planning board before going to City Council again. |
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