Draft New Jail EIR Released

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for a proposed new Jail facility near the Syar Quarry south of Napa has been released, starting a public comment period that begins today and closes Sept. 30.

            Napa County’s Department of Planning, Building & Environmental Services (PBES) drafted the DEIR, which analyzes the potential effects of the County Jail Project. The project includes buying 15 to 20 acres of land that is currently zoned for industrial use and building a new jail about two miles from downtown Napa.

The DEIR identifies project impacts that, with mitigation, would be reduced to less-than-significant levels in the areas of aesthetics, air quality, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use, noise, and utilities and service systems. It also identifies impacts that would be reduced with mitigation, but not to less-than-significant levels, in the areas of generation of greenhouse gas emissions and traffic. Access to the Jail would be by Soscol Ave (SR 221) and the road that serves Syar Napa Quarry.

The new jail would be designed with an initial capacity of 366 beds, but would include core support facilities that would accommodate expansion up to 526 beds in the event the County needs to add bed capacity in the future. Other facilities would include a storage and maintenance unit, administrative offices, food services, laundry, medical and mental health units, programming rooms, visiting areas, and inmate intake and release. A staff-secure facility would be built to house 50 to 100 additional inmates, and would serve as a transitional step for inmates moving back to the community. The existing jail, located in downtown Napa, would remain in use as a day-holding facility for pre-trial inmates with Court appointments, and would also continue to accommodate County offices and meeting space.

The DEIR is available for review online at www.countyofnapa.org/pbes/jailEIR/ or in hard copy at the PBES offices on the second floor of the County Administration Building at 1195 Third Street in Napa or at the Napa Mail Library at 580 Coombs Street in Napa.

Please submit written comments on the DEIR by 5 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2013 to:

Napa County Planning, Building, and Environmental Services Department
1195 Third Street, 2nd Floor
Napa, CA 94559
Attention: Brian Bordona, Supervising Planner
Telephone: (707) 259-5935   Fax: (707) 299-4028
Email: jailproject@countyofnapa.org

Comments provided by email should include “County Jail Project DEIR Comment” in the subject line, and the name and physical address of the commenter in the body of the email.

PBES will also hold public meetings to receive input from agencies and the public on Sept. 18. A morning meeting has been scheduled at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors Room. An evening meeting time and place have yet to be finalized.

The meeting space is accessible to persons with disabilities. Individuals needing special assistive devices will be accommodated to the County’s best ability. For more information, please contact Brian Bordona (707) 259-5935 at least 48 hours before the meeting.