Hearing continued for fire station proposal near Barrington schools
Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District officials will appear before a Cook County panel late this year in an effort to gain approval for a new station along Dundee Road near a middle school and a building serving young children.
Cook County's advisory zoning board of appeals began a public hearing Wednesday on the proposed station that would be just for ambulance calls. Fire district officials say the third station on the unincorporated site at 36 E. Dundee Road would improve ambulance response times to parts of Inverness and the district's southern coverage area.
Zoning panel members, who received a written objection to the plan from Barrington Area Unit School District 220, continued the matter until Dec. 5. The panel will issue a recommendation to the Cook County Board for a final vote.
If built, the station would sit between Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus and District 220's early learning center. As part of the formal protest, the district questions the need for the station due to the site's proximity to other firehouses and raised concern over the possibility of it worsening traffic near the schools and reducing neighboring property values.
Barrington Countryside would use the foundation of a house it bought for $500,000 in 2016 for the station. Officials said the new station would cost $900,000 to $1.1 million, but the work can't occur unless the fire district receives a special-use permit and variances from the county.
If approved, construction on the new station would start in spring 2019.