Board’s prison vote supported by court
The state Commonwealth Court has ruled that the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board did not abuse its discretion in denying a special exception for a proposed alternative correctional facility in German Township. In the ruling issued Thursday, Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer found that Edythe M. Shipley did not meet the criteria for a special exception under the county’s zoning ordinance.
Shipley had proposed using the former May Day Personal Care Home on Sunshine Hollow Road for an alternative correctional facility to house non-violent offenders. The building is situated on 81/2 acres of land and has formerly housed 125 people, according to the court opinion.
The zoning hearing board denied her request by a 2-0 vote in July 2005, after hearings where area residents voiced concerns about the impact such a facility would have on the community.
Residents had testified they were worried about inmates escaping, and slow response from the police because the township does not have its own police force.
When Shipley presented her case, she said the building has 30 bedrooms and could house as many as 120 people, but she agreed to accept no more than 85 at a time.
She said there would be a maximum of 20 employees per shift and the staff would include security personnel and caseworkers.
Inmates or residents would leave the facility for work no earlier than 8 a.m. and return by 10:30 p.m.
The board found that Shipley wasn’t specific enough regarding the requirements for licensing, building codes, security and certification for operating a correctional facility.
The board also noted parking concerns in its opinion.
Inmates would have to earn the right to leave for up to eight hours a week for reasons other than employment, and visitors would be allowed only on weekends.
Shipley appealed to county court, but a judge upheld the board’s decision.
In appealing to the Commonwealth Court, Shipley argued that the board abused its discretion and committed a legal error by denying the exception and a county judge should have reversed the ruling.
The court found that Shipley did not show that she “met the objective criteria of the Fayette County Zoning Ordinance.”
The decision was based on the county’s old zoning ordinance, which allowed special exceptions in an agricultural zone. The new ordinance, enacted in 2006, changed the area to residential.