Hearing Slated On Firehouse Variance Request

By Andrew Gorosko

The Borough Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) has scheduled a public hearing on the Newtown Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company’s request for a zoning variance in connection with the company’s proposal to expand its firehouse at 45 Main Street.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 pm Wednesday, April 9, at Town Hall South, 3 Main Street.

 The Borough ZBA briefly opened the public hearing on the variance request on March 19, but then postponed it until April 9 to allow lawyers for Hook and Ladder and for the Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers to discuss the managers’ concerns about the firehouse expansion proposal. The firehouse is located behind Edmond Town Hall.

The firehouse is situated in a R-1 Residential zone. The fire company is seeking a zoning variance to construct a firehouse expansion that would be closer to a property boundary line than the borough zoning regulations would allow.

Attorney Robert Accomando represents the fire company. The town hall managers are represented by attorney John Fallon. Attorney Donald Mitchell represents the zoning agency.

Mr Fallon, who is serving as the Board of Managers’ spokesman on the application, said March 19 that he would make his points on the matter on April 9, when the borough ZBA reconvenes the public hearing.

In a January letter to The Bee, David E. Brown, who is a member of the Board of Managers, raised issues about the proposed firehouse expansion. Mr Brown questioned whether the fire company has the legal right to use the land to the east of the firehouse, where it would expand the building. Mr Brown also wrote that increased traffic congestion in the area has made the location an inappropriate place for a firehouse expansion, suggesting that the fire company find another place for a new firehouse.

The managers, who operate Edmond Town Hall, apparently are concerned that an expanded firehouse would somehow interfere with the current or future operation of town hall. The managers plan to construct an external elevator shaft for handicapped access on the northern side of town hall.

Some Main Street residents also have expressed concerns about the effect that an expanded firehouse would have on their neighborhood.

Edmond Town Hall and the firehouse share a common parking lot. The firehouse, which faces southward, is situated on the northern side of the lot. The town hall, which faces eastward, is on the eastern side of the lot. There is a large area is front of the firehouse where parking is prohibited to keep that area clear for the exit and entry of fire trucks.

The town hall is a heavily used building. The building is the seat of local government, contains a movie theater, holds a large gymnasium, and contains a large function room, with a stage.

The firehouse’s proximity to town hall, and the fire trucks’ use of common driveways there, has posed a local public safety issue for years.

If the fire company receives a zoning variance from the Borough ZBA, it would then need an approval from the Borough Zoning Commission for its $250,000 firehouse expansion project.

A firehouse expansion would allow Hook and Ladder to keep all five of its fire trucks on the middle level of the tri-level building. A maze of steel supports has been in place within the firehouse for the past several years to structurally reinforce the building. After the expansion project is complete and the structure is fortified, the fire company would remove those steel supports and reclaim the interior space that the supports have occupied.

The town is served by five volunteer fire companies. Besides Hook and Ladder, the other fire companies are Sandy Hook, Botsford, Hawleyville, and Dodgingtown. Each fire company has one firehouse, except Sandy Hook, which also has a fire substation on Route 34. During the past decade, the Botsford and Hawleyville firehouses have been expanded. The five fire companies have the use of the former Fairfield Hills Firehouse on Trades Lane for vehicle storage and fire training.