Salt Lake City officials criticize proposed parole center

The state Department of Corrections was hoping to open the 300-inmate facility in April.

But city officials in August issued a six-month moratorium on halfway houses and have raised concerns about the proposed location for the parole center.

Salt Lake City Councilman Van Turner said that while the proposed location is in an industrial area, there are houses nearby. He also said the area might be better suited for redevelopment projects including the city's new plans for a streetcar system.

The Department of Corrections "is just thinking about their portion — about what they do," Turner said. "We're thinking, 'How do we redevelop the whole area?' And I don't think we'd want to have something like this detract from the area."

The Legislature has pulled nearly $6 million in funding for the plan, in part because of concerns raised by city officials.

Corrections officials said the new center would free up space at the prison and get minor parole violators treated and back with their jobs and families faster.

Cliff Butter, director of planning and research for Corrections, said a typical parole offender spends nine to 10 months behind bars on a typical violation. But with offensive treatment at the new center, they could be back on the streets in 45 to 60 days.

Some at the center would be on a work release program, some would search for jobs during the day and have a curfew at night, said Angie Welling, a Corrections spokeswoman. Others would be locked up constantly.

"This would allow (parolees) a bit of a tuneup if their only problem is substance abuse or something minor," she said.

The state and Community Education Centers, a private developer, chose Salt Lake City for the proposed center, thinking its location would be near most inmates' homes and jobs.

"Our intent was to have the facility a lot closer to being open at this point, and that hasn't happened," Welling said. "We had agreed (with CEC to build it) and were moving forward with the licensing process. The municipality did not like that."

The city issues permits on a case-by-case basis for halfway houses. It's used to smaller buildings housing perhaps a dozen people, not a facility for 300 inmates.

"Our existing ordinance never anticipated anything of this size. This is cutting-edge stuff," said City Councilwoman Jill Remington-Love.

Will Sommerkorn, head of the city's planning department, said city staff is looking at the proposal — including its effect on traffic and security — but won't recommend that the City Council issue a blanket denial of the idea.

"From the staff's standpoint, there need to be places for this kind of use, and there probably are appropriate places in Salt Lake City for them," Sommerkorn said. "We're not saying, 'Nowhere in Salt Lake.' "

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