Carson City Planning Commission approves new fire station, emergency operations center
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 09/28/2023 - 2:33pm
During Wednesday’s Carson City Planning Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a special use permit for the new fire station and emergency operations center proposed to be built off Butti Way.
The facility would include more than 18,000 square feet of space that will house a new fire station, an emergency operations center for the city, and the city’s IT department.
The property proposed for the building encompasses nearly 60 acres between two parcels, one of which is currently dedicated to the Public Works Corporate Yard, including office buildings for Public Works and Parks and Recreation, as well as other storage and maintenance facilities.
The second parcel is currently home to the Jump Around Carson (JAC) offices and parking areas for the buses.
The majority of the building will be dedicated to the new fire station including vehicle and equipment bays that could hold up to four emergency vehicles, crew rooms, office space, a kitchen and restrooms.
Up to five employees would be staffing the fire station on any given day according to Alan Ernst, Deputy Chief of the Carson City Fire Department.
The rest of the building will be home to the IT department and the new emergency operations center.
Commissioner Charles Borders, Jr. asked whether or not the fire station kitchen would be “feeding” IT workers and who will be footing the bill.
“Contrary to popular belief, firefighters all pay for their own meals, so all of that is taken care of,” Ernst said. “I’m sure the relationships they will have with that staff will determine the amount of sharing and cooperation (will take place) with the kitchen.”
In addition to the building, 50 parking spaces will also be constructed.
During the meeting, discussions took place surrounding the potential for noises such as sirens from the new facility, and how they might affect surrounding residents.
According to Project Manager Darren Anderson of Carson City Public Works, siren tests already occur on site, and this area will be less impactful than other locations across town.
However, there will be an increase in sirens outside of daytime hours, though sirens are used on a case-by-case basis dependent on traffic and the nature of the call, according to Anderson.
“Obviously fire stations throughout the world are built in neighborhoods for a reason, to respond as necessary to protect the community,” Ernst said. “But we are very conscious of our neighbors, and want to be good neighbors. We will not be creating unnecessary noise and lights.”
Commissioner Vern Krahn said that while he is concerned about additional noise, he is more excited about the additional protection the new fire station will provide, especially since he lives within the neighborhood it is being built near.
“You’ve dropped response time by 3-4 minutes (to the neighborhood), so I’m excited because you’re about 30 seconds from my house now which is a good thing for me and the neighborhood as well,” Krahn said.
“(Firefighters) are very conscious of the fact that if it’s two in the morning and there’s no traffic, there’s no need to run a siren,” Ernst said.
The special use permit will go before the Carson City Board of Supervisors for final approval.
