Redwood City – Cramped and prone to flooding, the fire station serving a swath of rural southern San Mateo County has long been eyed for replacement.
Now the vision of a new station is coming into focus.
San Mateo County supervisors today voted 5-0 to award a design contract for a new fire house at 350-360 Butano Cutoff, next to Pescadero Middle and High School. It will replace the current Fire Station 59, located in a flood zone, about 1.5 miles away.
“Today marks a significant step in the County’s commitment to bring state-of-the-art public safety facility to everyone who lives in and visits the Pescadero area,” said Supervisor Ray Mueller, whose District 3 includes much of the rural coast. “We are proud to invest in this landmark project that will provide so much more than a typical fire station.”
The new station will provide a barracks and garages/apparatus bays and additional amenities.
Another benefit: fresh drinking water for students and staff at Pescadero Middle/High School.
The California Coastal Commission in December 2023 voted to allow the County to move the current station to the new site and, with it, extend a water line to the new station.
This also resolves an ongoing public health issue that for years has vexed the Pescadero community: the commission’s approval means fresh water can be delivered to Pescadero Middle/High School, where students and staff now rely on bottled water due to contaminated wells.
County officials say the new station is critically needed.
Flooding in Butano Creek near the current station can force emergency personnel to ford rising waters to reach downtown Pescadero and residents further east. The current station suffers from mold, cramped quarters (nine people may live there during fire season) and heavy use since its construction in 1957.
At today’s meeting, supervisors awarded the $1,619,326 design contract to PBK Architects, based in California.
The new station will be designed to “have a 75-year service life and take into consideration the near San Gregorio fault line,” according to the contract.
The County’s Capital Improvement Plan through the local Measure K half-cent 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.
Construction could begin as early as mid-2025.