A public hearing is the final hurdle for a new $20.7 million fire hall and ambulance station near the corner of No. 4 Road and Cambie Road.
On Monday Richmond City Council approved the rezoning of three residential properties to accommodate the first combined ambulance station and fire hall in Metro Vancouver.
The 25,000 square foot LEED Gold (energy efficient) facility will house four Richmond Fire Rescue vehicles and up to six ambulances, according to a city report.
The hall will serve a booming community to the south as several multi-family home developments have been built or are planned.
Known as Cambie Fire Hall No. 3, the new facility will replace the existing and aging Bridgeport Fire Hall No. 3 and thus complete a full set of new, disaster-ready fire halls in Richmond once the city’s main hall, Fire Hall No. 1, at Gilbert Road and Westminster Highway, is completed.
An interesting feature of Cambie’s new fire hall will be the planting of a white oak tree, grown from a seed from New York’s 9/11 disaster site, which took the lives of 341 NYFD firefighters.
Fire chief John McGowan noted the fire hall can be expanded should a new, separate ambulance station be required in the future.
Aside from a public hearing, the City of Richmond must also placate the concerns of one resident whose home has been “orphaned” as a result of the development.
The home now sits between a corner store and a fire hall.
The homeowner has pleaded to city council to either buy his home at the assessed value of $1.68 million or rezone it for commercial use to compliment the adjacent corner convenience lot.
The owner contends the fire hall has ruined the actual value of his home and blaring sirens and lights will disturb his livability.
