§ 22.56.240. Juvenile detention facilities.

A.

Juvenile detention facilities are permitted as a special use in the following zoning district: LI.

B.

Minimum Conditions.

1.

General Requirements. Adequate sewage disposal facilities and water must be provided without diminishing the level of service for system users or others dependent upon the resource.

2.

Location.

a.

Buildings accommodating juvenile detention facilities shall not be located closer than two hundred feet from the boundary of a district in which the use is not allowed as a special use.

b.

Juvenile detention facilities shall be located such that outside law enforcement officers can respond to a call for assistance within five minutes under typical conditions.

c.

Advance life support service, as defined in RCW 22.73.030(19), must be available within five minutes under typical conditions.

3.

Security. The applicant shall submit a security plan, reviewed by the sheriff, which, at a minimum is in compliance with applicable American Corrections Associations's security standards for juvenile detention facilities. This plan shall identify staffing levels and scheduling, building security, and escape search plan, and provisions for immediate public notification of escapes.

4.

Design.

a.

Size. Juvenile detention facilities with capacity for up to seventy-five inmates shall be located on a site of at least five acres. Sites shall contain an additional four acres for each additional fifty bed increase in capacity above this threshold.

b.

Setbacks. The facility shall be set back at least seventy-five feet from public rights-of-way and property lines.

5.

Landscaping/Buffers.

a.

The applicant shall submit a binding landscaping plan which serves to maintain or enhance the character of the area without jeopardizing security. This plan shall incorporate at least a twenty-five-foot landscaping buffer along public rights-of-way.

b.

The applicant shall install an eight-foot high fence in character with the neighborhood between the facilities and all property boundaries, with the exception of the landscaped street frontage, which effectively screens the site from adjacent properties. The hearing examiner may waive or lessen this requirement if he/she determines that, due to existing site features or the type of character of adjoining uses, the privacy and security of the occupants of adjoining properties can be maintained in the absence of a fence or with a lower fence.

c.

Barbed wire topped fencing shall not be visible from public rights-of-way.

d.

Outdoor activity areas located in residential districts shall not be visible from public rights-of-way or adjacent properties.

6.

Noise. The hearing examiner may require conditions to minimize potential noise impacts including, but not limited to, altering the locations of outdoor use areas and noise generating facilities, and installations of noise reducing elements such as walls, berms, and landscaping.

7.

Lighting. Site lighting shall be directed downward and inward or other techniques may be utilized to minimize impacts on off-site uses.

8.

Access. Juvenile detention facilities shall have direct access to an arterial or collector unless the hearing examiner determines that access via a lesser classifications of street would not be detrimental to neighborhood character and would not increase public safety risks.

(Ord. 11500 § 40, 1997: Ord. 11274 § 2 (part), 1996)