Orange County Commissioners could take the next step toward securing a home for a future county jail facility Tuesday night.

The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners recently voted to rezone a 21-acre property, which had been targeted for a new county campus – including a new detention facility – by the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

Chair of the Orange County Commissioners Mark Dorosin said the county is set to move forward with the acquisition process after completing its due diligence evaluating the property.

“Assessing the soils, the environmental issues, all of the things that go into determining whether this is a physically suitable site for the campus,” Dorosin said.

In addition to the detention center, the county is exploring the possibility of building a new Environment and Agricultural Center on the property, which Dorosin said could help solve multiple issues because the current facility is in need of major renovations.

“Do we spend a lot of money renovating it? Do we spend money to knock it down and build something new in its place,” Dorosin asked. “This gives us an opportunity to potentially move that, make it more accessible to the folks who need it and, potentially, free up a piece of property that the county owns that’s in a residential community that could be used for affordable housing.”

The proposal has drawn pushback from neighbors who have asked elected officials to find a different site for the proposed jail and other county facilities. Officials reviewed several locations when looking at possible sites before moving forward on the current location.

Tuesday night’s County Commissioner meeting is scheduled for seven o’clock at the Whitted Meeting Facility in Hillsborough. You can view the agenda here.

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