The City of Santee asserts that there are several sites in the County that are better suited for the new LCDF including land in East Otay Mesa close to the existing George Bailey Detention Facility.   This location would allow existing facilities at the Bailey facility to be shared.  Common food preparation, laundry and medical services could be efficiently utilized by both jails.

An independent report commissioned in 2007 by the City concluded that the Santee land earmarked for the LCDF expansion should instead be sold for private development for $89 million to County coffers.  By instead moving forward with an expanded jail downtown Santee, there would be a $165 million negative fiscal impact to the region, according to the report.

                “We believe that the EIR represents a closed minded view regarding alternative locations for the jail,” Till said.  “It is only a token review of the many options available.  If the attitude were truly opened minded, the EIR would surely identify more suitable places.”

                Santee’s response is also critical of the County’s reporting of a 1996 agreement between the City and County that limits LCDF to 15 acres.  According to the agreement the parties “agree to work closely together to foster a development of the County’s land in Santee, in a manner that will be financially beneficial to the County and will enhance development opportunities in the City for the benefit of all citizens of the City and County.”

                According to Till, “Santee would much prefer to join the County at the conference table to discuss alternative locations in an attempt to fulfill the spirit of the 1996 agreement.  That remains an open invitation”

                Other issues within the report that Santee is questioning include misconstrued facts about the City’s Town Center Plan, land use impacts, aesthetic impacts, safety impacts, environmental impacts, urban decay impacts, parking, flood hazards and the close proximity of the proposed expansion to existing development including homes, day care facilities, schools and parks.

                Under CEQA law, the County must respond to the City’s comments regarding the draft EIR as well as all other comments received from the community and other interested parties.

About Las Colinas

Las Colinas Detention Facility was originally built in Santee in the 1960s as a juvenile detention facility.  In 1977, the facility was converted to an all-women’s jail and currently houses 675 inmates on an average daily basis.

About Santee

The City of Santee was incorporated in December 1980. With a population of over 55,000 and located in eastern San Diego County, Santee is the eleventh largest of San Diego County's 18 cities.  For additional information and updates, please visit www.ci.santee.ca.us

As many of you are aware Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility is located on 15 acres in the heart of our city’s booming town center area. It was originally built in the 1960s as temporary housing for female juveniles.  In 1977, the facility was converted to an all-women’s jail that has housed 675 inmates on an average daily basis.

The County, which owns the property where the jail is located, is currently proposing to expand the jail facility, tripling its size to 45 acres and increasing the number of beds to 1,216. The jail includes guard towers, barbed-wire fencing and barracks and is similar in design to expansive jails found in rural settings!

Even more importantly, the expanded jail would impact a nearby daycare center, a senior citizen mobile home park, a modern office campus and a park. And of even greater concern is the fact that property values will be effected.  Should the Santee citizens’ land values plummet because of a poorly planned jail expansion?

Our city officials, like many of you, have expressed serious concerns about the County’s plan to expand Las Colinas.  Santee has been struggling to negotiate with the County in hopes to come to an agreement that would be a positive for both our city and the County.  To date the County has refused to reconsider the proposed expansion as requested by our mayor and council members.

According to the County the proposed expansion of Las Colinas is expected to cost a whopping $300 million!

The County may be receiving some financial help from the state, which seems incredible given its terrible financial problems.  On May 8, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation granted $100 million to San Diego County for the Las Colinas expansion.  As a result, California sinks ever more deeply into debt.

But wait, it gets worse.

In April, the County of San Diego released a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) analyzing the impacts of a proposed women’s jail to be built at the current site of Las Colinas, as well as six other alternative locations. The six other locations included an available County-owned site near an existing prison in East Otay Mesa. The report concluded that expanding Las Colinas had the least amount of biological impact, but the East Otay Mesa alternative performed at the same level or better in all other categories.

The only neighbors that the jail would have if it relocated to East Otay Mesa are other jails. 

In 2000 the County published a report that showed that the best place for a new women’s jail would be south of the 52 freeway, closer to the higher crime jurisdictions and the downtown court system.

Even though the County’s own reports say that the location should be further south AND that there are other locations that are virtually just as good, the County insists upon forcing the expansion on Santee.

Our city has worked hard to make Santee a great place to live. This jail expansion will only damage the future of the City of Santee.  

Santee Unite.

Tell the County Board of Supervisors that they should put their jail in a place that makes sense.  NOT in the middle of Santee where the lives of many of your fellow residents – maybe even you – will be impacted.