Del City residents fear a loss of their way of life if a jail is built nearby

DEL CITY — Most may think a small-town vibe is hard to find just minutes away from downtown Oklahoma City.

But the vibe inside this community that's sandwiched between its larger neighbor and Midwest City/Tinker Air Force Base feels real.

As Oklahoma City considers whether to grant a special use permit for a new county jail at 1901 E Grand, residents fear that could disappear forever.

Oklahoma City's planning commission recently recommended approval of a special use permit that would allow its 71 acres to be used for a new county jail.

That could ruin Del City's ambiance, said longtime resident Robert Koon.

"It's a perfect place for older people, it really is, and the occupants of many of these homes are elderly," said Koon, 77, a teacher who taught fourth- and sixth-grade students while raising his three boys inside of a home at the corner of SE 21 and Bryant Avenue, where he has lived with his wife, Karen, for 47 years.

People who might hold some less-than-favorable preconceived notions about Del City haven't lived within the community, Koon believes.

Inside of Del City's neighborhoods, the pace of living feels laidback. Koon and other residents want to keep it that way.

More: Angry Del City residents take jail selection site personally

"I haven't experienced any crime around here, and downtown Oklahoma City or the airport is just minutes away. There are grocery stores on SE 15 and, just a little bit farther away, SE 29, and there's not a lot of traffic."

Koon said he had two major issues with the possibility of a jail being built at 1901 E Grand.

Children's safety is a concern, especially because they often walk through private yards or in streets because not enough sidewalks exist inside the community.

"I am compassionate about taking care of children," Koon said.

His other concern involves his neighbors, many who are elderly like himself.

"They don't want it here. I don't want it here. It is a bad situation," Koon said, who said he likes his neighbors and doesn't want to see any of them leave.

"All we are asking for is safety and to have peace and quiet remaining for the rest of our lives. I have been on a crusade to make people aware of what's going on, particularly inside of this neighborhood," Koon said.

Could property values decline in Del City if county builds jail at 1901 E Grand?

Real estate broker and property manager Michelle Caruso believes property values will drop inside of Del City if Oklahoma County builds a new jail at 1901 E Grand.

Caruso and her family have called a house built in 1948 near Midwest City-Del City's Epperly Heights Elementary School home for four decades.

Before that, her husband grew up in the home when it was owned by his parents, she explained.

Her business, Malone's Property Management at SE 41 and Sunnylane, manages 650 single-family homes, with many located inside of Del City and others in Harrah, Choctaw, Yukon and Guthrie.

Many homes in her neighborhood, like hers, have been expanded over the years and are still owned by their original buyers or younger families related to them. A lot of Del City kids call the neighborhood home, she said.

"Between here and Bryant, there is the school, two parks and a church, just on Del Road," Caruso said.

A jail at 1901 E Grand would change the environment because it would increase numbers of transients working their way across Del City after being released from the jail, opponents say.

Caruso said Oklahoma County's focus on the Grand Boulevard location seems unfair because other potential sites previously considered by commissioners have been removed from the list because they were close to schools and parks.

An encampment of homeless people are already living off SE 29 and Bryant, near where Oklahoma City's animal welfare operations are housed, Caruso said.

Some walking through Del City sometimes stop to loiter at Rotary Park, a smaller park with a covered pavilion, a play station with a slide and a couple of benches across the street and near Caruso's home, she said.

Caruso, Del City Vice Mayor Pam Finch and other volunteers grow lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, onions and other vegetables in a community garden where neighbors share the harvest inside the park as well.

"They say they are going to have transportation for people coming out of the jail ... and they will take them wherever they need to go. But you can't force them to get on a bus. The school backs up right to that park, and that's scary. I have grandkids. It's not good," Caruso said.

Her message to Oklahoma's Board of County Commissioners? "Let's put it in your back yard."

'Bedroom community' moniker fits Del City's description

According to Del City's website, the community was started in 1946 by George I. Epperly, a Capitol Hill home builder who bought 160 acres at the corner of SE 29 and Sunnylane Road — at the time an unincorporated area inside of Oklahoma City.

Epperly planned to build 50 houses strategically located between Oklahoma City and Midwest City, two communities where plenty of jobs were available.

Using precut, sub-assembled housing units to keep costs down and accelerate building time, Epperly completed the first home in January 1947. The remaining 49 were bought so quickly, many families moved in before the finish carpentry could be completed.

By July 30, 1948, more than 200 families called the area home and Epperly moved to incorporate the community, which he named Del City to honor his eldest daughter, Delaphene. In October 1948, community residents supported forming the community and elected a board of trustees.

In 1954 and again in 1963, Del City absorbed two other, smaller communities between it and Midwest City, then annexed undeveloped land between it and Tinker Air Force Base the following year. While it ended up in a court fight with Oklahoma City over that last move, it avoided having the case heard by Oklahoma's Supreme Court after successfully negotiating a deal with its larger neighbor to split the contested land, bringing the suburb to its current size of 7.1 square miles.

From Reno Avenue and a point about where Bryant Avenue would be if it extended that far north, Del City's northern boundary angles northeast along the North Canadian River until it reaches NE 10, where it extends east to N Sooner Road. Oklahoma City is on the other side. Petroleum and construction materials companies carpet that land.

On Bryant's west side and on the other side of its south border along SE 44, Oklahoma City is its neighbor as well. Midwest City and Tinker Air Force Base are Del City's neighbors on Sooner's east side. Suburban style neighborhoods, most built decades ago, cover those grounds.

Its biggest employer is MTM Recognition, located at 3405 SE 29. Churches, some restaurants and other businesses are clustered along parts of SE 15, SE 29, Sunnylane Road and the Tinker Diagonal, which borders Interstate 40 as it passes through the community.

Mike Smith, 67, the pastor at Del Baptist Temple, 3236 SE 15, has ministered for more than 15 years to his 30-member congregation inside of a church that was built on the site of an old, fire-damaged carpeting business.

The temple originally was established in 1955 at a location on Howard Drive. Smith became the temple's pastor in 2005 before it moved into its current home in 2007. It serves mainly older lower- and middle-class residents who live in and around Del City, though it also has some young members.

"A lot of grandparents are raising their grandkids these days. You see that a lot in the people we deal with," Smith said.

The temple, Smith said, is located right on Del City's edge where residential neighborhoods transition into land used for industrial purposes.

He worries how a jail at 1901 E Grand would impact nearby day care facilities for children, as well as others caring for adults who suffer from intellectual disabilities.

People released from the jail are a chief concern to neighborhood schools, both public and private, he said.

"I am not afraid of that personally, because we help a lot of transients passing through anyway" using a food pantry it operates to serve both its parishioners and others.

Still, he said having a jail at 1901 E Grand would create an ongoing concern that would weigh on the community's residents, over time.

Life is stressful enough without having to worry about a nearby county jail, Smith said.

"Del City has done a great job the past two decades building up its community, running off those who could cause trouble here. This will be a step backwards, I personally believe," Smith said.

Only one person affiliated with a business close to the jail's proposed location has spoken out in opposition, so far.

Jaime Graham, a program director at Reliant Living Center-Oklahoma at 2901 SE 22, told members of Oklahoma City's planning commission she worried people released from the jail would wander into that facility or one of five others nearby operated by the nonprofit, which cares for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Its oldest, at the intersection of Grand and SE 22, has been operating for about 60 years. The others are tucked inside of Del City, east of Bryant Avenue, she said.

Some people who live within those facilities are allowed to come and go, and Graham said some regularly walk a trail that lines Grand Boulevard, just across the street from where the jail would be built.

A jail (at 1901 E Grand) "would place residents at Reliant at possible risk," she said. "Should this be approved, it would be an extreme financial burden on Reliant (because) it would have to implement security measures that would exceed its financial capabilities."

Closest neighbor to proposed jail site looking for room to grow

Flatlands Threading at 1621 E Grand is a second-generation family owned business that reconditions oilfield pipe, including many joints moved in and out of its sister business, J&B Pipe Supply on Grand Boulevard, north of SE 15.

The yard where Flatlands stores its pipe is adjacent to land Oklahoma County proposes to use as its future jail location.

Co-owner Cullin Faison told The Oklahoman he has been keeping a close eye on Oklahoma County's process to select a new jail location.

"We feel a little bit like Switzerland," Faison said, saying he wouldn't actively oppose 1901 E Grand's selection as a jail location.

His biggest concern with having a jail located next door is how it could impact the ability of pipe-hauling tractor trailer rigs to safely enter and exit his business, Faison explained.

"But we definitely understand the concerns that are being raised by neighbors on the other side of Bryant Avenue," Faison said. "Some of our employees live over there, and they are well within their rights to be worried about how a new jail at 1901 E Grand might impact their lives."

Meanwhile, he and his partner, Jeff Hager, are hunting for potential locations where they might be able to have additional room to combine the operations of their threading and pipe supply businesses, Faison said.

A clear resolution on the jail location's site could influence their decision because that could mean other property the county has been considering might become available for their businesses' use, he said.

"We already talked to one land owner about his property, but it's currently being evaluated by Oklahoma County as a potential alternative location for the jail," Faison said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Del City residents fear changes if new OK County jail is built nearby