Volunteer fire and EMS facilities

Note: A topographic survey, along with a determination of any wetlands and stream features on the site are important in verifying the usability of the property.

When planning a new facility, one of the most important factors to consider is site selection. Most departments have a general idea of where a new facility should be located, but narrowing down the choices to a specific lot or tract is where paying attention to the details is very important. Typically, a property first comes to the attention of the department when a “For Sale” sign is posted by a realtor who may have made cosmetic improvements in the appearance of the property.

This effort to increase the curb appeal, however, could potentially mask issues that create serious future structural and/or financial concerns. To help avoid these potential issues we recommend that departments looking at locations for new stations, or in some cases deciding between the expansion of their existing facilities versus the construction of a new station, review the following points and take time to perform the required due diligence before offering to purchase any prospective site.

Zoning and Requirements

The first order of business is to determine if there are existing zoning and use requirements that are detrimental to the station locating on a certain parcel of land. Emergency Services are normally allowed in any zoning district, but some municipalities have ordinances that restrict their location, or require additional building setbacks and increased landscape buffers. If zoning issues are present, they can often be resolved with rezoning of the property or approved variances to the ordinance. These solutions can take valuable time and the desired outcome can not be guaranteed.

If the zoning does not present any obstacles, the next step is to investigate the soils and natural features of the site. The soil investigation involves hiring a geotechnical engineering company to drill test bores in strategic locations to help determine the presence of rock, buried organic material or soil types unsuitable for building construction. If any one or a combination of these situations is discovered, a heavy financial burden to the site can result, especially if the discovery happens later in the design or construction processes.

The geotechnical engineer should also be asked to provide the estimated bearing capacity of the soil. This information is necessary for the building foundation design. Poor bearing capacity of the soil will result in more expensive foundations and building designs and could be a deciding factor between two possible sites.

Topographic Survey

A topographic survey, along with a determination of any wetlands and stream features on the site are important in verifying the usability of the property. Many stream features are protected by state and local statutes which limit the amount of area that can be developed on the site and require undisturbed buffers — areas on both sides of the stream feature that cannot be graded or developed — to help control the quality of the water leaving the site as well as the quantity of stormwater run-off. Often these buffers result in the need for additional land to provide for the necessary development, but occasionally the location of the stream and buffer make the property overly expensive to develop or even undevelopable.

Surrounding Infrastructure

The last major subject to review during your due diligence period is the surrounding infrastructure. This not only includes roads, but also the available water and waste water solutions, specifically the availability of public water and sewer service or the feasibility of wells and septic systems. Normally, the logistics of the existing road system to provide the best response to the service area is taken into account when determining the general location for a new station. When reviewing an individual property for development, the access to that road system becomes important. All state and local Departments of Transportation have criteria that effect the location and spacing of driveways, as well as requirements for sight distances to provide safe access to that road system. As part of your review of the site, you will want to be aware of the visibility in both directions to ensure that safe movements are possible. Secondary to this, it is important to know if the road on which you are fronting is slated for widening or if additional right-of way will have to be dedicated as part of the site development. If surrounding growth requires additional emergency services, that growth may also require improvements to the road system. Any required road improvements are often paid for by the property owner.

Building design criteria, specifically the need for sprinkler systems, add another factor that will impact the site selection process. Many fire stations are being designed to include facilities for overnight stays. Any building with bedrooms is required to have sprinklers. That means that either the entire station has sprinklers or the bedrooms are housed in a separate building, requiring a smaller area to have sprinklers. If the public water system does not provide adequate water pressure a pump may be needed to boost pressure. If a public water system is not available, construction of a holding tank to supply a water source will be necessary.

Both scenarios affect costs and, therefore, site feasibility. If a public sewer system is not available, it is important to have the soils tested to determine if they are suitable to support a septic system. This usually requires that an environmental engineer, not a geotechnical engineer, review the soil permeability. The lack of suitable soils for a septic system sized to adequately support a fire or EMS facility can quickly remove a site from the list of candidates.

Beginning the site selection process knowing the minimum size requirements for the property is vital to determining the viability of any site. Each of the issues discussed in this article will impact the amount of land required for development and the cost of that development. The “perfect” two-acre rectangle may cost three times as much to develop as the wooded site down the street; therefore using these guidelines to evaluate the potential sites may help the department save critical funds over the course of their project. Knowing the critical site challenges and the experts who can solve them is key to a successful project.