Carlsbad firefighters will move into two trailers and a tent in the Dove Library parking lot for a year or longer, while the city replaces the 50-year-old No. 2 station at El Camino Real and Arenal Road.
All traffic including emergency vehicles will exit the new fire station onto El Camino Real, unlike the present layout, which only has access to Arenal. The new one-way route will be safer and more efficient with only the entrance on Arenal, officials said.
The Carlsbad Planning Commission approved permits for the construction of the new station and the temporary move to the library on a 5-2 vote Wednesday with commissioners Velyn Anderson and Carolyn Luna opposed.
"It's too big for this site," Anderson said of the new building. "We're trying to put way too much on this site."
Carlsbad built the single-story station on a residential-sized, 6,000-square-foot lot in 1969 when the city was much smaller. The termite-riddled building will be demolished and replaced by a two-story, 10,782-square-foot structure with more than twice the space.
The contemporary Old Spanish design will have an exterior of white stucco, heavy wood timbers and terracotta tile to blend in with the neighborhood and the nearby Omni La Costa Resort. Most of the seven planning commissioners said they liked the plan and that it would be a big improvement.
"The designer did a great job of getting everything they could onto this site," said Commissioner Linda Geldner. "It's a very nice-looking building."
Additional traffic signals controlled by the Fire Department will be installed on El Camino Real to clear the way for vehicles responding to an emergency.
Some of the planning commissioners had concerns about the exit, especially during heavy traffic. Fire Capt. Eric Evonsion assured them that firefighters are accustomed to driving emergency vehicles in congested traffic.
"We would basically drive around them," Evonsion said. "It's not a huge problem. Our operators are able to move the apparatus around those vehicles."
Returning fire trucks and ambulances now must back into the station from Arenal, a maneuver that temporarily blocks two lanes and requires someone to stand outside the vehicle and assist.
"The existing situation is unsafe," Evonsion said. "Cars zoom past while they are backing trucks into the station. We've had numerous near misses."
Demolition is scheduled for spring and summer of 2021. Construction will take 12 to 18 months, with occupancy expected by the end of 2022.
During construction, firefighters and their equipment will be moved to the Dove Library about a mile away, where they will occupy a section of the parking lot between the north end of the building and Dove Lane.
Their temporary home will have two trailers to house firefighters and a tent to shelter emergency vehicles. The area will be enclosed by a chain link fence and will occupy 59 of the 68 available parking spaces in the lot. A temporary driveway will be added to improve access to Dove Lane.
Station No. 2 was initially staffed by a single full-time firefighter and a complement of volunteers. At the time, it had about 250 calls a year. Today it houses five city personnel and gets 4,000 calls a year.
The city considered moving the station to a larger site, but nothing appropriate or affordable could be found in the area.
Carlsbad voters passed a ballot measure in November 2016 that authorized spending up to $10.5 million to build the station.
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