City’s Denial of Halfway House Could Prove Costly

Now that the Oxnard Planning Commission has revoked a corrections company’s permit for a halfway house designed to house nonviolent inmates before their parole, the firm and the city are hammering out a settlement that both sides hope will prevent litigation.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said Friday the settlement will most likely involve the city buying the building from Cornell Corrections and using it for the Housing Authority’s offices. But because negotiations are ongoing, he would not say how much the building will cost the city.

Cornell paid $610,000 for the two-story former medical complex and says it invested several hundred thousand dollars more to outfit it for state prisoners awaiting parole. In its settlement with the city, Cornell will seek to recoup as much of its investment as possible, the firm’s attorney said.

“Cornell doesn’t want to take a loss as a result of all of this,” Marc Charney said, adding that both sides hope to reach a settlement by Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Also at stake for Cornell is the $3-million contract awarded by the California Department of Corrections to operate the halfway house.

CDC spokesman Tip Kindel said the department and Cornell are dissolving the contract by mutual agreement but that Cornell can reapply for another facility, not necessarily in Ventura County.

“They don’t get any special preference, but then there’s no prejudice against them either in the bid process,” Kindel said.

Nonetheless, Lopez said that as part of the settlement the city will help Cornell retain the lucrative CDC contract.

“We’re interceding or helping them with the state to see that they don’t get hurt financially,” he said. “We want to minimize the hurt for everybody.”

The original contract stipulated that the halfway house would open in the Oxnard location, specifically for prisoners awaiting release in Ventura County. At the moment, Charney said, Cornell is not considering alternate locations.

Before losing the permit, Cornell’s managing director, Mark Thompson, said his company considered other sites in Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Paula before buying the property at 435 South D St.

Cornell maintains that it did everything necessary to receive a special-use permit for the 40-bed downtown facility. Thursday’s revocation of that permit came after Oxnard residents objected that a public hearing was never held on the project.

Opponents of the halfway house objected to its location: in a residential area less than a block from an elementary school and near downtown. If Cornell is searching for a new location for its project, Lopez said he would prefer they not consider Oxnard.

Oxnard planning commissioners and City Council members have pointed the finger at city staff for granting Cornell the special-use permit without their permission. But, Lopez said, finger-pointing is not what’s needed now.

“Maybe it’s not as important to work on who to blame but to work on how to resolve it,” he said.