County OKs halfway house

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 10:57 a.m.

A new halfway house for Nevada prisoners on parole or probation won approval from Clark County on Wednesday over the objections of some neighboring property owners.

The Clark County Commission approved the plan to build two, 27-foot-high buildings to house state parole and probation offices and rooms for as many as 400 felons nearing their release dates.

Nevada Department of Corrections officials and representatives of the Molasky family, who would build the institution near the intersection of Wynn and Russell roads, said the "custodial institution" would allow the inmates to attend school and drug-abuse counseling, as well as work off campus in a supervised environment before their release. The training would make it less likely that the inmates would return to crime, the backers said.

The developer and state officials said the project, dubbed Casa Grande or "Big House," would serve nonviolent offenders and would not include sex offenders.

However, a half-dozen property owners near the site in a largely industrial area said they received little notice of the state's plans and feared the impact that the institution would have on the area. The opponents asked for at least a two-week hold to get more information on the plans.

Mark Fiorentino, an attorney for Molasky, said a delay would probably not resolve the outstanding issues.

"Delaying it two weeks doesn't solve anything," he said. "You're still going to hear the same concerns."

He said the center is close to jobs and public transit and away from residential areas.

Instead of acting immediately on the zoning request, the commission instead delayed the morning debate by three hours to give Fiorentino and the team planning the project time to meet with the opponents.

Shortly after the recess, the debate turned heated when opponent Sean Higgins, general counsel for Terrible Herbst, a gaming and convenience store chain with a store about a half-mile away, traded expletives with Fiorentino.

However, Fiorentino told the board in the afternoon that Higgins had agreed to serve on an advisory committee that would guide the center's development. Higgins and some of the other opponents did not attend the afternoon session.

But Scott Smith, an attorney representing nearby property owners, continued to oppose the project. He said the property owners did not oppose the goal of providing a transitional living environment for the soon-to-be ex-felons.

"We're not saying we don't want to help these people," Smith said. "We're saying we're concerned about the effect on the neighboring properties."

Among those concerns are parking. Although the center would ultimately house up to 400 inmates, it would have parking for only 17 cars. The project planners said that was justified because those using the rooms would not be allowed to have cars.

Fiorentino's team made some concessions to the concerns raised by the opponents.

The project would include tall landscaping along part of its perimeter to conceal an exercise yard, and future changes would need commission approval.

That apparently mollified most of the opponents, Jackie Crawford, director of the Nevada Department of Corrections, said.

"We talked with them, met with them, and that seemed to satisfy them," she said. "We're eager to get this started."

Crawford estimated the cost of the project at about $15 million. She said the department hopes to begin moving into Casa Grande in June 2005, and that initially 200 inmates would use the center. Up to 200 more could join them over time.

The agency has to go before the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee in June for funding, Crawford said.

The commission voted 6-0 to approve the project, with Commissioner Rory Reid absent.

Several commissioners said they appreciated the concerns of the neighbors, but agreed with the state, developer and planners that the project could help keep felons from going back to crime and jail.

"Facilities like this are important," Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said. "The question, of course, always is where. I understand the concerns of the business people."