April 6, 1989

Residents to fight fire station plan

       Residents of northern White River Township have set the stage for a battle with their fire department over plans for a new fire station.  During a neighborhood meeting Friday night, they voted almost unanimously to hire an attorney and oppose plans for a fire station at 3780 W. Fairview Road.  The proposed site of the station – which would be the second for the White River Township Volunteer Fire Department – is the Schreckengast farm just west of the Indiana Railroad tracks.  The land is zoned for residential use, and the fire department has petitioned the Johnson County Board of Zoning Appeals for a special exception that would allow the fire station to be built.

         The zoning issue was to be taken up in the BZA’s March 14 meeting, but David Mickel, who lives across the road from the proposed site, asked for a continuance.  Mickel also organized and conducted Friday’s meeting.  Fifty-five people signed in as property owners in the area, but the crowd numbered about 75.  Officials of the fire department had discussed their plans with Mickel earlier, and expected to present their proposal during the meeting.  But just before the meeting opened, Mickel called aside the firefighters and their attorney, Joe Van Valer of Greenwood, and asked them to leave.  They complied, and Mickel opened the meeting by explaining his reason for excluding the fire department.

         “This meeting is not to argue or hassle with the fire department,” he told the crowd.  “It’s primarily a meeting of neighbors to decide what to do.”  But it was clear that he and most of the people had already decided.  “We’re not against the fire department,” Mickel told the crowd.  “What we are here about is the locating of a fire station, which is primarily a commercial endeavor, in a residential area.”  He said he had three specific concerns about the proposal: potential traffic problems, the effect on property value and the amount of money the fire department was spending for the 33.3 acre site.  The fire department has offered to buy the land for $240,000.  Plans call for most of the buildings on the farm to remain, although an addition is to be built onto the main barn and the house is to be converted to living quarters for the firefighters.  Fire Chief Howard Bennis has estimated the cost of that work at $50,000.

         Mickel said he can’t understand why the fire department is buying 33 acres, when only a small part of the land will be used.  He said information from the state fire marshal’s office indicates that most fire stations are built on 1.6 acres or less.  Mickel said he has been told that the fire department would use some of the land as a training site, but he said that would be an inconvenience to the neighborhood.  He said he is also worried that property values would be affected because potential buyers would not like the idea of having fire and rescue equipment coming and going.  Even though most of the property lies in a flood plain where construction is prohibited, some at the meeting said they feared that the fire department would sell off the excess land to be developed.

         Mickel suggested that the neighbors chip in and hire Mike Kias, an attorney who lives in the Carefree subdivision, to fight the fire department’s plans.  Near the end of the meeting, Mickel asked for a show of hands and nearly everyone in the crowd voted to hire Kias.  Mickel never took a “no” vote, but two men in the crowd said they would prefer to hear from the fire department before hiring a lawyer.  Both men declined to give their names, but said they lived in the area.  But Mickel said he saw no reason to speak with the fire department until the issue is heard by the BZA.  “Did the firemen come to us and talk to us before they made their offer to buy the property?” he said.  “No.”  Noel Poindexter, a firefighter who attended the meeting because he lives in Carefree, said after the meeting that he was disappointed by that attitude.  “We certainly wanted to talk to them,” he said.
 
 

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