Thursday, March 11, 1999
Neighbors don't want Butler jail
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Many residents in a Fairfield Township neighborhood are angry about a proposal to build a new Butler County jail a half-mile from their homes.
“Why stick a jail so close to a residential area?” said Donald Warner, who lives near the proposed jail site in a subdivision off Princeton Road.
The residents say the jail would not only pose a safety problem, but it also would be a visual blight, increase traffic and decrease property values.
Neighbors plan to voice their concerns at today's county commissioners meeting.
The Jail Work Group, an advisory committee to the commissioners, recently recommended building a jail on county-owned property in Hamilton on top of a hill near the Butler County Care Facility on Princeton Road.
The group's members had wanted to build a jail at the bottom of the hill in back of the county engineer's office. But they changed their minds when they discovered that the site held standing water and might be too small.
The neighborhood resi dents went through a similar battle about six years ago when a minimum-security jail was proposed for the site in back of the care facility. Because of residents' protests, the Community Corrections Center was built in Lebanon.
The jail proposal comes about a year after the county closed the west end of Princeton Road because of the construction of the Butler County Regional Highway. Residents in the area have been aggravated about having to use detours.
“The powers that be don't seem to have any regard for the people's wishes around here,” said resident Carter Arvin.
Courtney Combs, president of the commissioners, said he is sympathetic to the the residents' concerns.
The Jail Work Group favored this site because it's less costly than a proposed downtown Hamilton site.
The county must decide on a jail site today to meet the deadline for an application for state jail construction funding.
But Mr. Combs said he thinks the state would allow Butler to change the site later if there were sufficient reasons.
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