In 2016, the Fire Station 10 project was formalized between Santa Barbara County Fire and the City of Goleta. But over the last eight years, not much has been done.
A sign in an empty lot along Hollister Avenue reads "Future Home of Santa Barbara County Fire Department Fire Station 10."
"I think a lot of it is… whose job, is it? And it's been sort of languishing in this undead state," says Goleta City Councilmember Stuart Kasdin.
Kasdin says one reason is because of an unusual agreement between the city and the county.
"One of the other peculiar things with this arrangement is we were collecting the development impact fees for the fire station, but the city wasn't enabled to spend it," Kasdin explains.
That totals about $4.8 million in carryover funds, which Kasdin says, "We’re just sort of letting it accumulate because we don't do fire."
Another thing holding up development is that the burden of designing and building the facility was on the City of Goleta, not Santa Barbara County Fire. Kasdin says steps are now being taken to give County Fire more control of the project.
"I think part of it is us stepping back, the city that is stepping back, saying some of these are the things that you should be designing — the nature of the firehouse, how big it is, how many bays, what the building should look like, how it should be staffed," Kasdin says.
Fire Chief Mark Hartwig was not in town to comment on the new plan details but Captain Scott Safechuck says the need for an additional fire station remains a priority.
"Development has grown within this area and throughout the county, so it's important to us that we're providing ample service to the public," Safechuck says.
In the meantime, city and fire officials created the Fire Station Development Ad Hoc Committee, which is expected to meet this fall in hopes of moving the project forward.
