Brookhaven residents are pleading with the city council to delay signing an intergovernmental agreement for a new DeKalb fire station at Blackburn Park at its Oct. 13 meeting.
A petition signed by more than 40 people asks the council to defer a decision for another 60 days to consider alternative sites or configurations that could reduce parkland loss and impact on neighboring homes. The matter was deferred at the council’s September meeting after similar concerns were aired.
Council member Michael Diaz, in whose district the fire station would be built, said he and his constituents will continue to gather feedback about the proposal at the Oct. 13 meeting.
The preferred 1.35-acre parcel, listed at 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road, is next to Jo’s Grill, near the intersection of Ashford Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry Road.
DeKalb Fire Rescue is proposing that seven existing stations be replaced throughout the county, at a cost of $25.6 million, and 10 new stations be built for $38.7 million.
DeKalb County identifies the new Brookhaven station as #34. Officials say that its establishment “would improve coverage and reduce response times in the second fastest-growing area of the county with significant traffic congestion.”
Current travel time performance in the area is 12:52 minutes, according to officials.
City officials also explored alternative sites, including:
- the northwest corner of Blackburn Park, across from the YMCA;
- the northeast or the southwest portion of the former Publix grocery store, which is rumored to be the site of a future Trader Joe’s grocery store;
- Blackburn Park at Donaldson Drive, which is owned by the DeKalb Housing Authority.
Research on alternative sites
Several residents have expressed a preference for the Donaldson Drive site, but Diaz said a written comparison of the proposed Blackburn site, Donaldson, and other alternatives has reinforced the opinion that the original site is the best choice.
“DeKalb Fire Rescue has re-reviewed the proposed Blackburn location and remains comfortable operating from it; additional station-access and congestion questions have been identified for technical review; and the revised IGA incorporates a number of the neighborhood protections that had already been discussed,” Diaz said in an email to Rough Draft.
Diaz added that community meetings have been held with Cambridge Park and nearby residents at the Brittney Club, followed by “a smaller follow-up working session with neighborhood representatives to review remaining questions and updated information before the item returns to council.”
He said the original deferral called for more research, including strengthening the IGA to “reflect concerns we had already been hearing from residents over roughly the prior two years, including lighting, noise, screening, trees, parking and neighborhood impacts.”
In addition, the deferral allowed for “a dedicated meeting with Cambridge Park and nearby residents so those most affected could hear directly from the professionals involved, ask questions, and make sure Council had not missed anything material.”
Residents still aren’t convinced
Some residents, however, said the community meetings brought up more questions than answers.
Gail Davidson, a 47-year resident of Cambridge Park, which is directly across from the proposed new fire station location, said she and others are not convinced that the Donaldson Drive location should be out of the running, along with other concerns.
“We have NOT been assured there will be design features that shield sound and light from the station,” she said in an email to Rough Draft. “We have NOT been assured traffic will not be an issue. And we have not been assured that giving up parkland is the only solution.”
Rick Ferguson, in an Oct. 12 email sent to city and county officials and shared with Rough Draft, said during recent community meetings, he expressed his concerns about traffic backup during non-emergency times.
“At our meeting last week there were no answers – literally just a shrug of the shoulders and ‘I don’t know, I guess the cars will just get backed up more,'” he said in the email. “It was also suggested that DeKalb will adjust the traffic lights, etc., claiming this is DeKalb County’s responsibility. Adjusting the lights during non-emergency times won’t compensate for the approximately 60 feet of lost car space on both sides of the road in front of the fire station.”
Ferguson said officials should conduct a traffic study before any IGA is signed with DeKalb County.
Public safety is the ‘primary concern’
Diaz said, in his email to Rough Draft, his primary concern “starts with public safety and response times.”
“The need for an additional station serving this part of Brookhaven has been identified for years, and DeKalb Fire Rescue continues to see an operational advantage in locating apparatus directly at Ashford Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry, with access in multiple directions,” he said.
Diaz noted that the city didn’t hear any community concerns about the proposed fire station until September, despite discussing the need for it for at least two years.
He said officials are looking at “the broader Ashford Dunwoody/Johnson Ferry traffic issue, which predates the fire-station proposal and deserves attention regardless of where the station is ultimately located.”
The agenda item for the IGA is listed on the city council meeting as an action item under old business.
