Area residents objected to turning Hacienda Hotel into a correctional facility.
The City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to open a drug-treatment and correctional facility for more than 250 women in west-central Fresno, over loud and widespread objections by area residents.
Mental Health Systems Inc. of San Diego plans to open the facility in the former Hacienda Hotel on West Clinton Avenue, but still has to receive approval from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Beginning in March 2009, the department plans to start awarding contracts for 10 or more similar facilities statewide for nonviolent female offenders.
In addition to the correctional facility, Mental Health Systems plans a separate drug treatment center and transitional housing at the Hacienda site.
Mental Health Systems operates drug treatment centers statewide and has the support of law enforcement in a number of communities, a city report found.
However, it hasn't run a correctional facility, because the state has yet to approve such community-based facilities.
The council voted 5-2 to approve the facility plan, after hearing police Chief Jerry Dyer offer a detailed explanation of security requirements for the facility.
Council Members Henry T. Perea and Mike Dages opposed it, saying they'e concerned that some of the women housed in the facility will pose a safety risk.
"I don't want one in my backyard," said Dages, who added he's worried about similar proposals in the future.
Residents in the project area said they already have enough crime, including gang violence, drug dealing and prostitution.
Opponents said they collected almost 1,000 signatures on a petition against the proposed facility. Opponents weren't given an opportunity to speak Tuesday, although they listed objections during a four-hour public hearing earlier in the year and at two other community meetings.
P.J. Jerman, who lives in west Fresno, yelled at council members after the plan was approved.
"I think the entire community is opposed to having a prison in our community," she said.
But Dyer backed the plan, calling such "re-entry" centers the wave of the future.
An increasing number of inmates will be released as the state deals with a budget crisis and lawsuits over prison overcrowding, he told the council.
The best response for the city, Dyer said, is to have programs that provide drug addicts with the assistance they need to reintegrate into the community. He added that the plan calls for extensive security, including a certified police officer to patrol the facility around the clock.
The corrections center will house almost 100 inmates and be enclosed with a wrought-iron fence and a block wall.
If the facility receives more than 52 police calls in 12 months, the city can move to revoke its permit, Dyer said.
Dyer's backing didn't comfort Bill Ching, who owns a Chinese restaurant next to the proposed site. He said one of his employees was subjected to armed robbery when he tried to deliver food to a halfway house.
"Even if they keep the inmates locked up, the people who visit them will be a danger, too," Ching said.
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