CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A juvenile justice center will not be coming to Chesapeake in the near future. Chesapeake city manager James Baker will be withdrawing the request at Tuesday's city council meeting as a formality.
"The city manager determined late this afternoon he didn’t not have sufficient votes of the council get the super majority he needed to pass," said Heath Covey, the city spokesman. The project for the center would require a land transfer, which is why a supermajority vote would be needed for the project to pass.
This comes after more than a year of meetings and delayed votes on the matter. Many Chesapeake citizens and advocates for convicted juveniles are against the facility.
About 112 inmates would have been housed in the proposed facility, about 50 of which would be Chesapeake offenders. Others would be from across the Commonwealth, but many from Hampton Roads.
There will also no longer be a public hearing on the topic at the city council meeting. City officials believe the subject is off the table.
"We do not expect at this point project to come back in this form at future date," said Covey.
