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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Letter from Department of Correctional Services dated October 16, 1987 requesting residential facilities be permitted uses Second Judicial District U I I I Hi Department of Correctional Services 510 Fifth Street, Ames, Iowa 50010 (515) 232-1511 October 16, 1987 The Honorable Mayor Paul Goodland ��L.ED and Members of the City Council �By „� . ,,. ,F.r`` City Administration Building 6�987 621 Main n- f Ames, IA 50010 CITY CLERK Dear Mayor and Council Members: Cn of ar�Es,lows The Second Judicial District Department of Correctional Services respect- fully requests that the City Council amend the Ames Zoning Ordinance to include a Residential Corrections Facility as a permitted use in the city of Ames and to designate the districts in which such a facility may be located. The Residential Corrections Facility which the Department operates in Ames is located at 208 Stanton Avenue, under a Special Use Permit issued by the City of Ames to our Department. The Facility was originally opened in 1978 at 223 Lynn Avenue and was moved to 208 Stanton in August of 1985, after our landlord notified us in March that our lease would not be renewed due to plans to develop the property at 223 Lynn. The Facility at 208 Stanton was acquired quickly, in the urgent situation described above, and is marginally adequate for its current use. The Department is in the process of developing a long-term plan to re-locate the Facility to a more suitable structure in Ames. One of the problems we have identified is the need to go through the process of acquiring Special Use Permits in order to be able to seriously consider any potential sites We believe it would best serve the Department, the City Administration and the community as a whole if a Residential Corrections Facility such as the one our Department operates in this community were incorporated as a permitted use within the Ames Zoning Ordinance. The Facility was previously located in an R-4 district. The current location is just inside a Planned Commercial district which borders on an R-3 district. Our experience has been that this use is compatible with these districts. In addition to these districts, we would request that consideration be given for our Facility being a permitted use in Commercial and Industrial districts and the Hospital-Medical district. We are not requesting consideration for lower density residential districts. Out Department is willing to assist the City Council and city staff by providing any other information needed to consider our request. Res ectfully, Linda Murken, Director LM/neg enclosure cc: file DESCRIPTION OF AMES RESIDENTIAL CORRECTIONS FACILITY 1. General Program Description The purpose of a Residential Corrections Facility is to provide a supervised and supportive environment for adult offenders who are placed in the facility either as a condition of probation or who are returning to the community on work release status from a correctional institution prior to consideration for parole. The facility is operated as much as possible in a fashion which is residential rather than institutional, balancing supervision/security activities with support through counseling, both by the facility staff and other community agencies. Residents' activities are monitored by around-the-clock staffing of the Residential Facility by community corrections workers, who are required to be awake and alert at all times. Staff regularly check on residents' whereabouts, both when they are in the facility and when they are on approved leave from the facility for purposes of work, seeking work, attending counseling sessions, participating in supervised recreation activities and on approved visits to family or friends. Counseling activities assist residents in meeting their legal, financial and family responsibilities. In short, the program grants offenders the opportunity to improve their lives, become self-supporting and deal with the problems in their lives which have contributed to their unlawful behavior, within a structure designed to contribute to community safety and support the correctional and rehabilitative processes. 2. Need for Program The present number of offenders returning to Story and Boone Counties from the State Correctional Institutions averages over six per month (based on statistics from March 1986-March 1987) . Over one-third of these offenders are placed in the Residential Corrections Facility on work release status. These are persons identified as needing more supervision and assistance in returning to the community than those who are granted a direct parole. A monthly average of two probationers are placed in the facility as a condition of probation. The average stay in the facility is five months. Trends would indicate that the number of offenders adjudicated and placed in community corrections will continue to increase, both because of the increasing number of persons entering the correctional system, and because community corrections has been shown as an effective and cost-efficient way to assist offenders in becoming productive members of society. A structured program such as that provided by a Residential Corrections Facility can contribute towards alleviating the problems these persons experience in making a successful transition back to community living. Description of Ames Residential Corrections Facility Page -2- 3. Current Location The Department's Residential Corrections Facility has operated at 208 Stanton since August of 1985. The property is just inside a Planned Commercial District and bordering on an R-3 District. The building is similar in size and appearance (a large three-story house) to several other structures in the neighborhood. The building has sufficient space for housing twenty (20) residents at one time. Our average occupancy rate is about 18. All of the offenders housed in the facility are adult males. 4. Relocation Objectives Since offenders are required to obtain employment and to utilize support services offered by community agencies, a location close to employment opportunities, community services and public transportation is desirable. Changes we would like to make in relocating the facility are to expand the capacity to thirty (30) offenders, house all operations on a single floor, and provide more room for kitchen and laundry facilities, as well as space for group counseling and education sessions.