Simsbury Firefighters Seek New Training Facility

SIMSBURY, CT — The Simsbury Fire District is seeking town approval to demolish an aging fire training building on Hopmeadow Street and replace it with a larger, modern facility designed for firefighter training.

The Simsbury Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Simsbury Town Hall, 933 Hopmeadow St.

The fire district is seeking a special exception to construct an approximately 1,400-square-foot training building at 251 Hopmeadow St., according to a staff report prepared by Simsbury Assistant Town Planner Brittany MacGilpin.

The proposed structure would measure approximately 70 feet by 20 feet and replace an existing training building in roughly the same location on the 6.21-acre property.

Because the property is in the town's R-40 residential zone, government facilities require a special exception from the Simsbury Zoning Commission.

According to the district, a structural assessment required by the National Fire Protection Association determined that the existing training structure was no longer viable or safe for operational training.

"Due to the age of the facility and the prohibitive, economically unfeasible costs associated with remediation, the Fire District proposes to demolish the existing structure and construct a modern, state-of-the-art training facility in its place," Simsbury Fire District Facilities Manager Matthew Pearce wrote in the application.

The district said it has partnered with WHP, a firm specializing in the design and engineering of public safety training structures, for the project.

Plans call for the new building to use a slab-on-grade foundation, eliminating the basement foundation beneath the existing structure.

The applicant said that approach would reduce excavation and subsurface disturbance and minimize the risk of affecting the local water table during construction.

Once construction is complete, compromised asphalt surrounding the building would be removed and replaced.

The new pavement would largely follow the existing footprint, although plans contemplate a possible 10-foot expansion east toward Hopmeadow Street.

The project has already received approval from the Simsbury Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency.

The wetlands agency first received the application June 16 and determined the proposed work was not likely to affect wetlands or watercourses, classifying it as a non-significant activity. The application was formally approved July 7.

Acting as the Simsbury Conservation Commission, the agency also requested that invasive species on the property be removed to the greatest extent possible and that any new landscaping use native plants.

The district said erosion and sediment controls, including silt fencing, would be installed to prevent sediment and runoff from reaching nearby wetlands or watercourses. Those controls would be maintained throughout demolition, earthwork and final stabilization.

The district also said it considered alternative locations in Simsbury but concluded that keeping the training facility at the existing drill grounds was the only operationally and environmentally viable option.

According to the application, using the existing site would keep specialized training infrastructure on an already developed Fire District property while avoiding clearing and grading undeveloped or environmentally sensitive land elsewhere in town.

Town planning staff is recommending approval.

MacGilpin's report found that the proposal substantially satisfies the town's criteria for granting a special exception.

Staff reported no indication that the project would negatively affect property values and identified no extraordinary public safety, traffic, utility, drainage or community-facility concerns.

No new landscaping or buffers have been proposed as part of the application.

A draft motion prepared for the commission would approve the special exception on the condition that the project be developed in substantial conformance with application materials dated July 14 and that all required building and zoning permits be obtained before work begins.

For submitted documents regarding the application and the agenda for the Sept. 9 Simsbury Zoning Commission meeting, click on this link.