The traffic a fast-food restaurant with drive-through service would generate — projected at 1,066 car trips daily — would have been dangerous in such a walkable neighborhood, Ghormley said.
Jim Girard, chairman of the Arnada Neighborhood Association, shared Ghormley’s enthusiasm, saying, “that’s great. … It’s encouraging to hear.”
Asked if he had any concerns about living near a fire station, Girard replied, “absolutely not.”
The four parcels, which comprise a full block, currently are home to several vacant buildings, including a former discount store and an auto repair shop. Fire Station 1, now at 900 W. Evergreen Blvd., will be rebuilt at the .87-acre site, which is bounded by Main Street, Broadway, East 27th Street and Fourth Plain.
The city’s property purchase is part of a plan to move fire stations 1 and 2 to maximize efficient coverage for all four stations in the southwest part of town. Studies have indicated stations 1 and 2 are too old and small to be remodeled and likely would collapse in a major earthquake. A new site for Fire Station 2, now at 400 E. 37th St., near the Safeway on Main Street, has not been announced. But it likely will be moving east of Interstate 5, according to the city.
Monday, Tim Haldeman, the city’s director of General Services, said when the city was conducting its station location study, it identified two general areas for the two stations to decrease response times and improve service levels.
“When we got the map from the consultant, it had a dot right at Main Street and Fourth Plain,” he said. “Once we saw McDonald’s was in some planning process, we went to the owner and said, would you be interested in selling that property to the city of Vancouver?”
The property owners, Steven Oliva, who is president and chief executive officer of the Hi-School Pharmacy, and his business partner Thomas J. Miller, told the city they were in talks with McDonald’s. Later, however, the business partners contacted the city and eventually negotiated a selling price within the ballpark of the property appraisal price, Haldeman said.
Oliva could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon regarding whether the public outcry over McDonald’s influenced the sale to the city.
A design for Fire Station 1 should be finalized by the end of the summer, and construction will start in spring 2016.
The station replacement effort was made possible by the recent sale of surplus city properties and a funding plan started in 2013.
