Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Cost overruns on Fairmont fire station help opponents

From $12 million to over $25 million already

The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above Chollas Creek.
The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above Chollas Creek.

On Wednesday, June 14 the city of San Diego's audit committee will have discussed a new 54-page report on infrastructure projects that affirms what some have said all along about the proposed Fairmount Fire Station.

It was a project in need of a plan.

The audit's main finding about the approval process for capital improvement projects is that the city has often waved them through prematurely, "which likely contributed to significant project cost overruns and much longer project timelines."

All of that applies to the plan to build a 14,273 square foot fire station in City Heights on the corner of 47th Street and Fairmount Avenue, opponents say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

It's the poster child of "poor vetting, cost overruns, and mismanagement of the CIP processes," states a letter to the audit committee from City Heights resident John Stump, who says it may become the most expensive fire station in San Diego history.

The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above and adjacent to the already imperiled Chollas Creek and its wetlands. Environmental advocates say the parcel, which lies within a multi-habitat planning area, should be classified as open space.

At the time the city bought the land in 2017, no studies had been done to find out if it was even suitable to build a fire station there. The city said it was essential to meet the fire department's operational needs and response times for the growing Mid-city /City Heights community.

Flash back to 2014, when a new $12 million fire station was proposed on Home Avenue, another area of City Heights with a fire services gap. But in 2018, plans shifted to the current site, acquired by the city in 2017. The project was renamed Fairmount Fire Station - a misnomer, critics said, because the brushy parcel on 47th Street is a world away from bustling Fairmount Avenue.

Two years later, an environmental consultant's report identified numerous "sensitive receptors" on the site. According to city records, the station would infringe on designated, multi-habitat planning area and multiple species conservation plan lands.

The high cost to build on 47th Street was climbing. By then, it was projected to be at least $16 million. Opponents said the site at this point should have been dismissed in favor of one of those originally proposed like Home Avenue. Capital improvement projects don't always require a full environmental impact report, and the city chose a less stringent review known as a mitigated negative declaration.

A letter to the city from the Sierra Club calls the proposal an "in-house, self-serving Capital Improvement Project with a preordained Mitigated Negative Declaration decision.”

Advocates, who included Chollas Creek Coalition, Audubon, San Diego Canyonlands and others fought for a full environmental impact report. In 2021 the city agreed, later providing a timeline of 18-24 months to complete.

In the city's FY23 budget adopted last June, the Fire-Rescue portion states the initiation of the EIR for the Fairmount station is one of the Fire-Rescue Department’s Capital Improvement Project goals for FY2023. The projected cost was over $23 million.

Today, its total cost is estimated to be over $25 million. Only partially funded, the design phase isn't expected to be finished until 2026. Currently, planning, design and construction are on hold "pending the identification of a funding source and approval of an Environmental Impact Report."

According to the audit, projects that were poorly planned when first approved, on average, cost 233 percent more than their initial estimates and took four years longer to complete. But the average difference for fire facilities is $8,334,851 and the difference in years to completion is almost a decade.

In the end, watershed advocates believe the long-awaited report will prove the fire station should be relocated.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above Chollas Creek.
The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above Chollas Creek.

On Wednesday, June 14 the city of San Diego's audit committee will have discussed a new 54-page report on infrastructure projects that affirms what some have said all along about the proposed Fairmount Fire Station.

It was a project in need of a plan.

The audit's main finding about the approval process for capital improvement projects is that the city has often waved them through prematurely, "which likely contributed to significant project cost overruns and much longer project timelines."

All of that applies to the plan to build a 14,273 square foot fire station in City Heights on the corner of 47th Street and Fairmount Avenue, opponents say.

Sponsored
Sponsored

It's the poster child of "poor vetting, cost overruns, and mismanagement of the CIP processes," states a letter to the audit committee from City Heights resident John Stump, who says it may become the most expensive fire station in San Diego history.

The 1.28-acre site at 1950 47th Street is a steep slope above and adjacent to the already imperiled Chollas Creek and its wetlands. Environmental advocates say the parcel, which lies within a multi-habitat planning area, should be classified as open space.

At the time the city bought the land in 2017, no studies had been done to find out if it was even suitable to build a fire station there. The city said it was essential to meet the fire department's operational needs and response times for the growing Mid-city /City Heights community.

Flash back to 2014, when a new $12 million fire station was proposed on Home Avenue, another area of City Heights with a fire services gap. But in 2018, plans shifted to the current site, acquired by the city in 2017. The project was renamed Fairmount Fire Station - a misnomer, critics said, because the brushy parcel on 47th Street is a world away from bustling Fairmount Avenue.

Two years later, an environmental consultant's report identified numerous "sensitive receptors" on the site. According to city records, the station would infringe on designated, multi-habitat planning area and multiple species conservation plan lands.

The high cost to build on 47th Street was climbing. By then, it was projected to be at least $16 million. Opponents said the site at this point should have been dismissed in favor of one of those originally proposed like Home Avenue. Capital improvement projects don't always require a full environmental impact report, and the city chose a less stringent review known as a mitigated negative declaration.

A letter to the city from the Sierra Club calls the proposal an "in-house, self-serving Capital Improvement Project with a preordained Mitigated Negative Declaration decision.”

Advocates, who included Chollas Creek Coalition, Audubon, San Diego Canyonlands and others fought for a full environmental impact report. In 2021 the city agreed, later providing a timeline of 18-24 months to complete.

In the city's FY23 budget adopted last June, the Fire-Rescue portion states the initiation of the EIR for the Fairmount station is one of the Fire-Rescue Department’s Capital Improvement Project goals for FY2023. The projected cost was over $23 million.

Today, its total cost is estimated to be over $25 million. Only partially funded, the design phase isn't expected to be finished until 2026. Currently, planning, design and construction are on hold "pending the identification of a funding source and approval of an Environmental Impact Report."

According to the audit, projects that were poorly planned when first approved, on average, cost 233 percent more than their initial estimates and took four years longer to complete. But the average difference for fire facilities is $8,334,851 and the difference in years to completion is almost a decade.

In the end, watershed advocates believe the long-awaited report will prove the fire station should be relocated.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader readers sound off about Encinitas cliffs

Not much sympathy for victims
Next Article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader