17 Years and Counting

Headline, Sun Gazette: County Board Members Want Quick Decision on Fire Station Location

The 17-year odyssey of the fire station’s future took another twist last month, when the Sun Gazette broke the news that county officials were considering a previously tabled option for the station.

The announcement came two years after the County Board voted to put the fire station on part of a site currently occupied by Koons Arlington Toyota along Lee Highway. Complications in making that deal happen have led county officials to reconsider a site currently occupied by the Bromptons at Cherrydale condominium development, located between North Oakland and North Pollard streets.

The citizens of Arlington passed bond issues to pay for the Cherrydale fire station in 1990 and 1994.  Yet, in 2007, the location is still very much in doubt.

County Board members say they want to make a decision on the site of the Cherrydale Fire Station quickly, then move to start construction.

“I don’t think we should drag this out,” County Board member Barbara Favola said at the board’s July 7 meeting, citing further “tension in the community” that would be created by more delays.

Most Cherrydale residents would say that 17 years of waiting = “dragging this out” quite some time ago.