Council backs big fire station
Approval is unanimous, despite concerns about an 80-foot
tower.
By Lakiesha McGhee -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, May 23, 2004
Plans to build a new fire
station in Fair Oaks with an 80-foot communications tower received support
Wednesday from the Fair Oaks Community Planning Advisory Council.
In a
unanimous vote, the council recommended approval of the project to replace
Fire Station No. 32 - at Hazel Avenue and Roediger Lane - with a
13,000-square-foot building.
The
proposal will go to the Sacramento County Project Planning Commission for
final action.
The project is part of a $40
million program by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District to replace
eight outdated stations. The facilities do not meet current building codes
and lack adequate communication systems for emergencies, officials said.
New
stations also are planned at Greenback Lane and Kenneth Avenue in Orangevale
and at Sunrise Boulevard and Douglas Road in Rancho Cordova.
The
existing Fair Oaks station was built in 1964, district project manager
Charles Horel said. The 3,900-square-foot building is on a 2-acre site that
includes residential barracks set for demolition.
A
10-foot antenna atop the 25-foot-high building is part of an emergency
communication system that is "hit and miss," Horel said. A taller tower
would improve radio communication and provide better support for mobile data
terminals used to send messages to police and fire vehicles, he said.
Many
residents attending the meeting supported the fire district's plans, noting
that a federal panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in
New York City heard testimony last week about communication failures among
emergency workers at the World Trade Center.
Other
residents opposed the proposal for a taller tower, however.
One
Roediger Lane resident said she was concerned that visual intrusion by the
80-foot tower would hurt her property value. Another suggested camouflaging
the tower as a pine tree - a tactic used in other communities.
Horel
said the district plans to screen the structure with redwood trees.
Council member Renee Taylor expressed concern that the county did not notify
neighbors about the fire district's plans to build the tower.
"I
have always struggled with putting a tower in someone's personal space,"
Taylor said.
Council member Joseph Maloney was less sympathetic to opponents' concerns.
"The
next thing we'll be talking about is we have a fire station there, but we
can't have fire trucks because they make too much noise," Maloney said.
While
the council has frowned upon past proposals for cell towers in residential
areas, members said Wednesday that the proposed emergency communication
tower is a necessity.
In an
effort to encourage a compromise, the council recommended that fire
officials work with neighbors to determine if there is a less intrusive
location for the tower.
"If
you're going to build a state-of-the-art station, you need to do it right"
council member Mary Klass Schultz said. "Any other way would be a waste of
money."
The existing fire station would not be
demolished until the new building is completed, Horel said. If the project
is approved, the new fire station could be open by May 2006, he said.
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