Newtown Hook & Ladder, Company No. 1, the volunteer fire unit that serves the borough and adjacent areas, has filed plans for its proposed new firehouse for local land use review and action.

The Borough Zoning Commission (BZC) has submitted those plans to the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) for review and comment. The P&Z serves as the borough’s planning agency.

The P&Z was scheduled to consider the matter at its meeting on the night of Thursday, November 20, after the deadline for the November 21 print edition of The Bee. 

The BZC is expected to conduct a public hearing on the fire company’s application for a special permit when it meets on December 10, said George Benson, town director of planning.

The application includes architectural drawings, an engineering study, and plot plans, as well as various technical data.

The proposed firehouse at 12 Church Hill Road would be approximately 16,000 square feet in floor area, of which 13,000 square feet would be at ground level and 3,000 square feet would be enclosed by a partial second story, Mr Benson said.

The volunteer fire company has sought new quarters for many years to replace the dilapidated and structurally unsound town-owned firehouse it now uses at 45 Main Street, behind Edmond Town Hall. But for one reason or another, multiple proposals for new fire quarters have fallen through.

The current proposal for 12 Church Hill Road has progressed the furthest through the local land use regulatory process of any proposal which the fire company has pursued over the years.

According to the plans submitted by the fire company, the presence of the firehouse would not have any adverse effects on property values in the area. The plans call for 28 parking spaces at the site. The facility would be served by public water and public sanitary sewer lines.

J. Edwards & Associates, LLC, of Easton is the engineering firm working for the fire company. Claris Construction Inc of Newtown provided architectural drawings.

The application documents list the names and addresses of people who own 122 properties which lie within 1,000 feet of the development site.

At the BZC’s December 10  public hearing, the applicant is expected to present a traffic report that would, among other topics, address the project’s impact upon area traffic flow and safety, its effects on peak-hour traffic flow, its effects on area roads’ service levels, and any road improvements that may be needed.

Following an architectural review, the Borough of Newtown Historic District Commission on October 16 granted the fire company a “certificate of appropriateness” for the proposed firehouse.

The fire company recently received a wetlands/watercourses protection permit.

In November 2013, Trinity Episcopal Church members endorsed selling land to the fire company for firehouse construction. The firehouse site lies generally south and east of the church’s rear driveway.

In May, the fire company acquired a purchase option, which states that the fire company would buy 3.16 acres, with frontage on Church Hill Road, from the church for $500,000, provided that the fire company first receives all required regulatory approvals for its firehouse project.

The construction project would allow the fire company to own its firehouse, rather than continue to operate out of the town-owned firehouse.  The town’s four other volunteer fire companies — Dodgingtown, Hawleyville, Sandy Hook, and Botsford — each own their firehouses.

The overall price of the firehouse project is yet unclear. So that Hook & Ladder could effectively make the transition from housing its equipment in municipal quarters to housing the equipment in quarters which the fire company owns, the town would provide an overall $1.5 million subsidy toward the firehouse project.