Plan for fire station near Barrington schools going before Cook County panel
Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District officials are scheduled to go before a Cook County panel Wednesday seeking permission to construct a new station near a middle school and building serving young children along Dundee Road.
However, Barrington Area Unit District 220 has filed a written objection to the proposal with Cook County's advisory zoning board of appeals. The station would be between Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus and District 220's early learning center.
District 220 cites several concerns about the proposed station, such as the possibility of it worsening traffic near the schools and reducing neighboring property values. District 220 also questions the need for the station due to the site's proximity to other firehouses.
Under the plan, the fire district's third station on the unincorporated site at 36 E. Dundee Road would be meant to improve ambulance response times to parts of Inverness and the district's southern coverage area, officials said. The Cook County advisory zoning board of appeals is to consider Barrington Countryside's plan at a hearing Wednesday in Chicago.
Barrington Countryside would use the foundation of a house it bought for $500,000 in 2016 for the station. Officials said $900,000 to $1.1 million would be spent to build the new station, but the work can't occur unless the fire district receives a special-use permit and variances from the county to build on the residential land.
Zoning board of appeals members will issue a recommendation on the proposal to the Cook County Board. The county board will get the final say on the plan.
Construction on the proposed new station would start in spring 2019.