Lease for land that could become alternative Shasta custody site moves forward

Following a seemingly tense negotiation in recent weeks, Redding City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 2 to approve a lease agreement with the county for a tract of land at 7251 Eastside Road, on the periphery of the Redding city limits just south of the Haven Humane Society Adoption Center. The land is slated as the proposed site of an “alternative custody facility,” an idea that was first floated during a Shasta County board of supervisors meeting in January. 

The lease agreement has been in process for more than eight months before it was finally approved this week by Redding. A few weeks ago, three of the five county supervisors expressed concern that the lease had not yet been signed by Redding. Hoping to move the lease forward, they voted to stall approval of Redding’s special election slated for the fall. It was a decision that dissenting Supervisor Allen Long called “extortion” but appears to have worked. 

As the lease moved forward this week, Redding Council Member Mike Littau said the council has “cleaned up a little bit of language in the lease,” explaining that, contrary to public perception, the county and city were “all getting along pretty well” behind closed doors during the negotiation process.

The council also voted to declare the facility’s land on Eastside Road as “surplus” at the same Sept. 2 meeting. In order for the project to move forward, the Redding had to declare this land surplus, thereby designating that the tract can be used for no other purpose. Once land is declared surplus, the designation is permanent. This was one of the unresolved issues that had initially motivated the county last month to delay approval of the city’s upcoming election. 

The site comprises 90 acres, and the lease will last for 30 years. The county will not be charged rent for use of the land, with an option to purchase the premises from the city once a facility is built and operating for at least 12 months. 

The future facility will expand Shasta’s Alternative Custody Program, which mandates people charged with certain crimes report to a day center where they perform public service work instead of being incarcerated. 

In order for any of this to happen the project must be approved and funding obtained. There is $34 million set aside and a newly signed lease, but at this point the project still remains visionary. 

County Supervisor Matt Plummer told Shasta Scout the board is in talks with the nonprofit Amity Foundation related to the proposed alternative custody facility, and more details are expected to be released next week. The Amity Foundation has developed facilities in other communities, mostly in Southern California, that provide re-entry services for recently incarcerated people. Amity also provides in-prison services, such as substance abuse recovery and education, workforce training, and job placement, among other means to prepare people for their lives after release.

In the future, Plummer said he envisions adding residential components at the property for men recently released from prison as they reenter society under close monitoring. Eventually, he said, the county could also build a new jail at this location with added behavioral health and medical services to replace the cramped and outdated existing jail in downtown Redding.

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