Goleta Building New Fire Station

The City of Goleta will be constructing a new fire station to serve western Goleta. It is to be located on Hollister Avenue across from the Sandpiper Golf Course. Currently, the west area’s sole existing fire station, Station 11, located along Storke Road, serves the needs of both central and western Goleta.

Cities typically try to maintain a ratio of one firefighter for every 2,000 people in their district, with 4,000-to-one being the maximum ratio allowed by the state. Station 11’s ratio has grown beyond capacity, with one firefighter for every 7,198 people, making a new fire station a necessity, according to management analyst Claudia Dato.

The new station site will also be within a five minute emergency response distance for all of western Goleta, areas that are often difficult for Station 11 to reach in that short a time.

The County of Santa Barbara Fire District recognized the need for a new station approximately 10 years ago, according to Dato, and the idea was incorporated into the city plan in 2002. After purchasing the $1.25 million building site in January 2009, the city has been projecting possible designs for the station, which is expected to be completed between 2012 and 2013. Overall, the estimated project cost is $4.69 million, using funds generated from the city’s development-impact fees. These are fees imposed on new or proposed developments to fund public services, such as a fire station.

The proposed facility will be an 8,000-square-foot, one-story building with an emergency generator for cases of power outages. One goal of the design is to incorporate green building methods in order to achieve a “Silver” level LEED certification. LEED ratings are based on several factors including resource materials used, indoor environmental quality, and water efficiency. The exterior is expected to be sustainable as well, using low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscaping, keeping water use to a minimum.

The city is currently issuing a Request for Statement of Qualifications of contractors seeking the job of designing and building the new station. Several area contractors have been in contact with the city, but no decisions have been made yet.