The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Another factor in the decision, she said, was "community concerns" about the potential development of the Graterford land, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the 14-square-mile township. Ever since February, when the state's plan was revealed, opposition has been intense among the 6,000 residents, many of whom already were feeling overwhelmed by Skippack's growth. Just since the 2000 census, 1,200 homes have been built there.

Phillips' office told area legislators of the decision, made in early summer, to spare Graterford. But the word apparently never got to the Skippack community.

"We never had any direct contact with anyone" in the township, Edward Myslewicz, General Services spokesman, acknowledged yesterday.

The lack of notification aggravated at least one township official, who complained that he had been shut out of the process all along. Mark Marino, chairman of the Skippack supervisors, learned that the plan would be shelved from an Inquirer reporter this week - the same way he heard in February of the state's intention to relocate Graterford.

Marino and other Skippack officials, as well as state legislators representing the township, had promised to fight any effort to change the Graterford site's zoning. It currently allows only correctional facilities, farms or open space.

"It doesn't surprise me that they abandoned the idea and didn't tell anyone," Marino said. "I'm sure the state and the prison are going to continue to look at ways to generate money from that piece of property. I hope as they do, they certainly will welcome the township into the talks."

The state's original plan had been an unprecedented way "to tap in to the private side for a creative idea to get some value out of the Graterford property," Phillips said. The main motive was "to explore all the possibilities we have to . . . save money."

The state put out a call for developers who, in exchange for the rights to Graterford's acreage, would build two 2,000-bed prisons - one maximum security, one medium - and maybe a third 2,000-bed medium-security facility.

To qualify, a developer had to identify available land within a 50-mile radius of Graterford where the prisons could be built. The state had not decided whether it would sell the Skippack site or swap it for the ground where the replacement prisons would go.

Before that could happen, though, the legislature would have to sign off. State Sen. John Rafferty, a Republican who represents parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties, including Graterford, said yesterday he had put General Services on notice that he would not support opening up the prison site to development.

However, only three developers responded by the state's March 5 deadline. Phillips said none of them identified any relocation sites, nor did they provide much information beyond their development qualifications.

"There was not a lot of detail to evaluate," Phillips said of the trio of Pennsylvania-based companies.

The tabling of the plan may be welcome news in Skippack, but the mood is not so joyous at the state Department of Corrections. With the state prison population at nearly 46,000 - 111 percent of capacity - "it's really important that we do expand," said spokeswoman Susan McNaughton.

The department's pending capital budget request includes a proposal for three 2,000-bed prisons to be built on the grounds of existing state correctional facilities. They would include a medium-security prison on the Graterford property.

The new prisons, which would cost upward of $200 million each, would require approval from the legislature and Gov. Rendell. McNaughton said they would take two to three years to build.

Meanwhile, she said, the number of state prison inmates continues to grow by 200 a month.
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