Published: Friday, Nov. 20, 2009
Beginning steps taken for proposed prison site
Construction could begin a few years after the impact report for the former ‘boys school’ location is complete
Comments (0) | 
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeCaltrans wants to prevent the possibility of aircraft radio interference and distracting lights at the proposed site of a medium-security prison adjacent to Paso Robles Municipal Airport.
Officials are in the beginning stages of a 10- to 12-month draft of an environmental impact report for the state-owned land formerly home to the El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility. That institution, which much of the community knew as a boys school, closed in June 2008.
The state transportation agency’s aeronautics division has concerns with the potential effects on safety for the airport and its pilots, according to a recent letter to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In October, state officials visited Paso Robles to get community feedback on what should be studied for its trio of prison projects proposed for the site. Agencies and the public had until Nov. 9 to submit their concerns.
The projects include re-configuring the school buildings for a 1,000-inmate, medium-security prison; constructing new stand-alone buildings for a 500-inmate re-entry facilityy; and a 200-inmate County/Cal Fire camp. The re-entry facility would operate independently from the prison and camp.
All three Paso Robles projects could be constructed at different times and in no particular order on the same 160-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Airport and Dry Creek roads. Construction could begin two to three years after the environmental report is complete, officials said.
Noise, groundwater and impact to growth and housing were on a long list officials had already planned to study. Impact on traffic and local hospitals also came up at the meeting.
The letter also notes potential issues with building the prison’s perimeter security system, two 30- to 40- foot tall guard towers, new support and administrative facilities, parking and other physical changes to the land, and interferences those might have with the airport.
The re-entry facility would house inmates from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and San Benito counties. Approval of all three counties, along with that of Paso Robles’ leaders, was a precondition for the project. All have agreed to it.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@sanluisobispo.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.