Prince William County, VA Residents oppose new fire station
Residents oppose new fire station
Potomac News
Jaclyn Pitts
Potomac News
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Traffic. Noise. Safety. Compliance.
Those were four words heard repeatedly at the Dominion Valley Country Club on Wednesday night regarding a proposed fire station within the gated community off U.S. 15.
Gainesville District Supervisor John T. Stirrup, in addition to representatives of the Prince William County Planning Office and Department of Fire and Rescue, spoke to community residents about the specifics of the Dominion Club Fire and Rescue Station.
Fire and rescue Chief Mary Beth Michos said she had hoped to have this meeting sooner and was surprised that so many people were opposed to the station, which would serve Dominion Valley and the surrounding area.
She said many concerns she'd heard involved safety issues for children in the community, since the station's trucks would use private roads to exit the development.
"But safety is just as important to us as it is to you," she said.
One of the big issues concerning the proposal was that the plan violates some guidelines stated in the 2003 Comprehensive Plan.
However, Planning Director Steve Griffin noted that those are just that -- guidelines.
And Battalion Chief Matt Smolsky of the county fire and rescue department explained other issues the fire department deals with besides fighting fires, including handling cases of cardiac arrest.
The station would be located near the intersection of Antioch Road and Ryder Cup Drive within the community, which alarmed many residents due to safety, traffic, noise and possible pollution concerns.
He also noted that the area fire stations are already at or above capacity, so a new station would benefit the area.
"It seems like daily we're busting at the seams," he said.
Paul Meyer, a Dominion Valley resident, presented the community's viewpoints through a slide show and the Comprehensive Plan violations, including insufficient lot size and sight distance.
"[This plan] represents gross disregard for the safety of the Dominion Valley community," he said. "It would be an easy switch to put [the station] off [U.S.] 15."
Other residents expressed concern over diesel emissions, road safety and accidents, noise and fencing or buffering.
Resident Elizabeth Harding spoke in favor of the station, as she said she "came up through the fire service" and worked for Michos.
Another resident, Suk Lee, said he thought it would be reasonable to ask for a study of the area with regard to road safety.
After residents spoke, department officials addressed questions raised during the public hearing.
Easy Answer..............
Do one of two things. Build it where the FD planned to put it, or, option 2, don't build anything. BUT, DO NOT BUILD IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. As Dennis put it, NIMBY is the problem, and the LAST thing you do is give in to these people.
What a bunch of douchebags!
Sounds like that same horse**** with the NORTHstar aeromedical program a few months ago in New Jersey. Assmongrels...
Since a Fire Station is city property...wouldn't eminent domain kick in here?
Different Direction..........
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennisTheMenace
Having a firehouse a block from my home was kind of fun when I first moved in, but those weeks when there are five calls a night between 11pm and 4am do get old. But I knew the station was there when I bought the place. These people should be allowed the right to want a station somewhere else and to have a roll in the selection of the site. If they moved in next door to an existing firehouse and wanted it removed for their own personal reasons then I would say screw-em, but this is being put on them after the fact. Prince William County still has enough open and undeveloped areas that they could place a firehouse in a location that can still provide a quick responce while providing minimal intrusion into the neighborhood. Frankly if I was from PW and lived outside the gated community I would be pretty ****ed at the appearance of the county providing what looks like a private station inside a gated community.
Dennis raises a couple of good points. We have one "Gated" community here, and if we have our way it will not remain gated for long. We were successful in blocking an attempt to erect gates for a second community, and we're not backing down from trying to get rid of the gates at the first one. The point here is the streets are public, not private, property, and gates impede our response. We have a zoning change in place now that allows Fire/Rescue facilities to be constructed without going thru any public hearings or otherwise following zoning law requirements for new construction or land use. The folks in Prince William could be learning from us.........
