Architects working on plans for a new Skagit County jail prefer the Alf Christiansen Seed warehouse site in downtown Mount Vernon to an adjacent site with more than a dozen private properties, according to a draft report obtained by the Skagit Valley Herald.

Architects Rasmussen Triebelhorn of Tacoma weighed 51 criteria, everything from ease of access to public sentiment, to compare the Christiansen Seed site and the three blocks of downtown Mount Vernon immediately to the west.

The site to the west, along Third Street and directly south of the current jail, was selected this past winter as the Skagit County Law and Justice Council’s preferred location for a new jail. After the council announced its recommendation, members of the public asked that the warehouse site also be considered, Justice Council member and county Deputy Administrator Tim Holloran said.

Because they are next to each other, the two sites scored the same on most criteria, including many of the access issues, flood risk and the availability of utilities. Both sites are south of Kincaid Street, separated by the railroad tracks west of Interstate 5.

The Christiansen Seed site scored higher overall because it is twice as large — 10 acres compared with five — allowing more room for expansion. Also, because the site is under one owner and is currently for sale, it would be easier to acquire, the report concluded. Also, the report said there is likely to be more public support for the Christiansen Seed site.

The council will reconsider its site recommendation after hearing from the property owners in the downtown Mount Vernon neighborhood, many of whom would be displaced if the Third Street site is chosen.

The architects estimate that the county would need to spend $3.3 million to acquire all the properties at the Third Street site that it doesn’t already own. That’s less than the projected $4.2 million cost for the seed warehouse site.

Some property owners off Third Street believe the architect is underestimating the final cost of 17 parcels the county would need to acquire.

Property acquisition is likely to get bogged down in lawsuits, as the county and property owners struggle to come to terms, more than one property owner said.

“My gut’s telling me by the time we’re done with the lawsuits, the value is going to be in the high fours or five (millions),” said Mike Spink, an accountant who works in an office on Third Street.

Mary McIntosh, a lawyer whose office is next door to Spink’s, also anticipated a legal struggle.

“We will be adequately compensated, and it does often require filing a lawsuit to be adequately compensated,” she said.

Most of the property owners interviewed said they would prefer that the jail be built at the Christiansen site.

“Even if I have them as a neighbor on the other side of the tracks, I’d be OK with it,” Spink said. “I don’t want to move.”

Dr. Michelle Antonich and her business partner, who have a practice at Skagit Natural Family Medicine, recently purchased and remodeled a 100-year-old building for their Third Street office. She said relocation would be challenging because it’s hard to find affordable medical office space in Skagit County.

“We’d rather see the jail somewhere else,” she said.

So would Mary K. James, director of Friendship House. Her agency runs two separate shelters, one for men and one for women, on the proposed jail footprint.

“I’d love for them to choose (Christiansen Seed), because that’s a whole lot less hassle for me,” James said.

Several property owners at the proposed site aren’t overly concerned yet, in part because they don’t think voters will approve a construction bond that could cost more than $100 million.

John Murphy, a lawyer with an office at the proposed site, said the economy doesn’t favor a public vote to raise taxes.

“Where in this economy do the taxpayers come up with a bond or a sales tax to come up with X number of million dollars?” Murphy said.

County officials are aware of the obstacles to bond approval, and the economy is only one of them.

“It was a stretch before the economy hit the front page,” Holloran said.

The county must pitch the jail project as more than just a bigger lockup, Holloran said. County officials have taken to calling the project a “community justice center” that would include mental health and chemical dependency services.

“We have to reduce the incarceration rates. We have to get the people the treatment they need, so in the long run we cost the taxpayers less money,” Holloran said.

“That’s the only way you’re going to sell it.”

A subcommittee of the Law and Justice Council will review the architect’s report Tuesday. It will schedule a meeting with downtown Mount Vernon neighbors and get their input before recommending either the Third Street site or the Christiansen Seed site to the county commissioners.

Last-minute consideration of the Christiansen site has delayed design of the new jail and a more refined cost estimate. In 2005, jail construction was estimated at $56 million to $65 million. The architect’s report delivered to county officials this week said the project cost would be $100 million or more.

Officials had February 2009 in mind for the bond vote, but Holloran said the election will likely be later than that.

“February is not a possibility, not in my opinion,” he said.

The jail would be built in two phases, with 428 beds in phase 1 and 280 beds added later.

The current jail, completed in 1983, was built to house 83 inmates and was redesigned to hold 180.

In the first week of June, the jail housed 177 inmates on average. Routinely, inmates are released from their sentences early, and bookings for nonviolent crimes are turned away.

• Ralph Schwartz can be reached at 360-416-2138 or .