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contrary to the land use goals for this area. The Comprehensive Plan and the 1997 Old Highway 8 corridor study (upon which the MX District was designed) encouraged compatibility. Staff is perplexed by VOA's claims that a residential reentry facility use is a compatible use with the adjacent uses. Most of the uses listed provide medical services to the general population of the community and have land use characteristics consistent with the Mixed Use land use designation in the Zoning Code and Comprehensive Plan. VOA likely does not serve the general population of the community. While the applicant's narrative mentions conformance with a neighborhood policy of the Comprehensive Plan, the policy mentioned is applicable to neighborhoods that are predominately housing. The Mixed Use designation is just that—mixed use. It strives to be an extension of the downtown City Center by creating high intensity mixed uses. The surrounding area proposed for the reentry center is mixed use, consisting of housing, retail, manufacturing, and commercial uses including a hotel. While over 100 condominiums exist as a direct neighbor, the area is truly a mix of uses. • Although not in the matrix, it must also be noted that the special uses listed in the city code do not represent a public safety threat to the community. The proposed facility will house up to 102 federal prisoners, some number of which will be allowed to be at large in the community. Clearly not all of the prisoners are dangerous, or represent a threat to the community. However, the applicant has indicated that there is no guarantee as to the type of offender who will occupy this facility. Statistics from a U.S. Department of Justice Special Report titled Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 show that there is a substantial risk of recidivism in this population. That is, there is a substantial risk that they will commit further crimes within the few years after release. Prisoners could include violent offenders, social deviants, or offenders who prey on others, including children, the elderly, and other vulnerable persons. Staff believes that the proposed use is not similar to the other uses listed with respect to the threat it represents to public safety. The applicant is appealing the staff-level decision to deny their ability to apply for a Special Use Permit. Staff would recommend that the Commission examine all the information to determine if staff interpreted the Zoning Code correctly and forward a recommendation to the City Council on the appeal. However, staff believes after weighing the evidence that there are few similarities and significant distinctions that make the proposed use dissimilar with the special uses in the MX district. PERMITTED USE DETERMINATION In light of the staff determination that the reentry center is not one of the listed special uses in the MX District code, the applicant seeks to have its proposed use approved as a permitted use under a different section of the MX District code. Zoning Code Section 6-520 (4) (D) states "The City Council shall consider other uses not listed in this Section". Such other uses may be granted if, in the opinion of the City Council, the use is compatible with other uses in the district." This language is taken directly from the list of permitted uses in the Business zoning districts (Chapter 5 of the Zoning Code). The list of uses in the MX District which includes the phrase"compatible"uses is imported from Chapter 5 of the Zoning Code. Section 8-062 of the code provides a list of criteria to determine whether other, unlisted uses are "compatible". Although Section 8-062 was not imported to the MX District provisions, staff feels that this was an oversight and that this section provides an appropriate procedure and list of criteria for making a determination under the MX sections of the code whether a use is "compatible". Section 8-062 outlines the process called "Procedure for Determining a Permitted Use". This is the process that must be used to determine whether or not a non-listed use is compatible with other uses in the district and should be permitted. The