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The fire station serving a cramped, flood-prone area of southern San Mateo County will be replaced, as a 5-0 vote by the board of trustees San Mateo County Supervisors, a design contract was approved for a new fire station at 350-360 Butano Cutoff, next to Pescadero Middle and High School.
The project will replace the current Fire Station 59, located in a flood zone approximately 1.5 miles away.
“We are proud to invest in this historic project that will provide much more than a typical fire station,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose District 3 includes much of the rural coast.
The new station, which could begin construction in mid-2025, will provide barracks and apparatus bays and additional amenities, as well as potable water for students and staff at Pescadero Middle and High School.
In December 2023, the California Coastal Commission voted to allow the county to move the current station to the new site, thereby extending a water line to the new station.
It also addresses an ongoing public health issue that has plagued the Pescadero community for years: The commission's approval means fresh water can be delivered to Pescadero Middle and High School, where students and staff now rely on bottled water due to contaminated wells.
County officials said the new station is much needed.
Flooding in Butano Creek near the current station can force emergency personnel to wade through rising waters to reach downtown Pescadero and residents farther east. The current station suffers from mold, tight quarters (nine people can live there during fire season) and heavy use since it was built in 1957.
Supervisors awarded the design contract worth $1,619,326 to California-based PBK Architects.
The new station will be designed to “have a useful life of 75 years and take into account the fault near San Gregorio,” according to the contract.
The County's Capital Improvement Plan through the Measure K half-cent local sales tax has allocated approximately $20 million to relocate the new station.
In September 2023, the Board approved a 99-year lease for the 1.75-acre site with the La Honda Pescadero Unified School District.
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