Greenacres Fire Station Site Sought

Valley Fire District officials are scoping out sites in Greenacres for a new fire station one they hope to have open in 2000 or 2001.

The best location, said Valley Fire Chief Pat Humphries, would be between Flora and Barker, south of Broadway but north of 8th.

That area is now served by a stations 3, 5 and 7. But more extensive coverage will be needed in the near future, Humphries said. Several new subdivisions proposed near Barker and 8th could bring hundreds of new homes in the next several years. Meadowview Terrace alone could bring 309 new residences, if it wins an appeal in Superior Court.

“What we’re trying to do is move where the development is,” Humphries said.

A new station would cost between $500,000 and $1 million, fire officials said. It would be paid for with operating funds. Construction could begin as early as 1999.

The district’s old Greenacres station, at Appleway and Michigan, was vacated in February. It was too small to accommodate the district’s larger trucks and didn’t have enough land to allow for needed expansions, Humphries said.

The fire district replaced it with the new Station 3 on Harvard Road north of Interstate 90.

The district continues its search for a tenant for the now-empty station at Appleway and Michigan. Fire officials put the property up for sale in July, but received only two offers, one of $42,000 and the other $81,000, according to Assistant Chief Karl Bold. The appraised value is $220,000.

“I didn’t expect it to be easy,” said Humphries, who said he will now go back to the district’s original plan: trying to lease the building.

An attempt to lease the station earlier this year proved unsuccessful. At that time, most prospective tenants were interested in using the building for commercial purposes, Humphries said. Because the building is zoned residential, that would have required zone changes and costly remodeling to make the bathrooms handicapped accessible.

The cost of that remodeling is estimated at $10,000, Humphries said.

The district has decided to make the future tenant responsible for zone changes and remodeling costs.

Even so, Humphries remains hopeful. He has started discussions with the owners of two home-based businesses. This type of business owner wouldn’t have to seek zone changes. They also wouldn’t be held to remodeling requirements, he said.

, DataTimes