Lakewood opposition stalls corrections plan

After nearly four hours of public comment on Aug. 18, Jefferson County commissioners passed a motion to postpone their consideration of signing a purchase-sale agreement concerning the proposed relocation of a men’s community corrections facility.

The community corrections program is currently operated out of the historic New York Building at 1651 Kendall St. in Lakewood. The purchase-sale agreement is contingent on getting a special use permit for a proposed new location near West 8th Avenue and Quail Street in Lakewood. The decision for the permit will be made by the city of Lakewood’s planning commission, and is a topic item for the Sept. 2 meeting.

“Safety is a definite concern among the residents,” said Diane Duffey, local resident and president of the Daniels Welchester Neighborhood Association. “But that’s not the whole story to this.”

Residents worry about the increased number of offenders that would reside in the area, she said.

A women’s community corrections facility is about 1,000 yards from the proposed site for the men’s facility. It has a capacity of 140 people, and the men’s facility would have a capacity of 250 people.

That’s a potential total of 390 offenders between the two facilities, and because the two facilities would be in such a close proximity, neither the men nor women would be set up for successfully completing the program, Duffey said. Plus, a juvenile assessment center is also nearby, she added.

“The clustering is our main concern,” Duffey said. “We’ve looked at the studies. Other counties don’t put so many together.”

The area has a lot of vulnerable community members, she said. A school is a couple blocks away, on 10th Avenue; a public health building that serves families and children is nearby; and the Developmental Disabilities Resource Center is directly across the street from the proposed site location, Duffey said.

Also, she said, “the perception of additional crime will drive away businesses.”

Day-to-day operations of the community corrections facilities are contracted to Intervention Community Corrections Services, a private, nonprofit community corrections agency, said County Manager Ralph Schell. The agency provides transitional services for offenders who have either been approved for diversion from the Department of Corrections or are transitioning from prison facilities to the community. Offenders may also be sent to the facility as a condition of their parole and, in some cases, for mental health programs.

Community corrections provides mandatory responsibilities including work placement, money management, curfew, drug screenings and volunteer educational courses.

“The program is important to the entire community,” Jeffco Commissioner Donald Rosier said.

Without it, the individuals would either be released out onto the street with no supervision or go to jail.

“The long-term health of the program is important,” Commissioner Casey Tighe added.

The New York Building was built in 1922, and has been county-owned since 1993.

For a number of years, the county has been searching for a new location, Schell said. The building is in need of maintenance work, he said, estimating that it could cost up to $ 5 million to get the building up to code.

Funding the new facility is the county’s responsibility. The county has entered into an agreement with Littleton Group LLC for the design-build and purchase of a $ 14 million building at the proposed location.

Already budgeted is $ 9 million, and the county expects an additional $ 5 million to come from the sale of the New York Building, which is under contract with NY16Kendall LLC, Schell said.

In a separate agreement, Littleton Group LLC has agreed to purchase the New York Building for $ 5 million should NY16Kendall not follow through with its purchase, Schell said. NY16Kendall has until Oct. 22 to complete the purchase.

Popular opinion among residents is that the county should spend the money on the work that needs done to the New York Building, Duffey said.

“They’re already ingrained in the community there,” she said.

Although public transportation is easily accessible at the proposed location, there are more bus lines where the facility is currently located, Duffey said. In addition, the individuals in the program have a community garden on-site, and the New York Building is beautiful with “a lot of character,” she said. “They’ll lose all that.”

A good location for a community corrections facility is an oxymoron, Commissioner Libby Szabo said. One person may think a certain location is the best place for it, while another person may be completely against it, she said.

“No matter where it’s proposed to be located, there will be concerns among the neighbors,” Schell said.

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