Marin County Fire officials are reshaping plans for a new regional fire station at San Geronimo Commons, backing away from a tall training tower and full headquarters complex after valley residents objected to the project’s scale, noise and visual impact.
At a June 8 meeting hosted by the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group, Fire Chief Jason Weber said administrative and dispatch functions have already been moved from the valley to San Rafael, and that the department is now considering lower-profile training structures, multiple smaller buildings and design changes to better fit the landscape and surrounding habitat.
The county has shortlisted four architect-builder teams for the $70 million project and expects to recommend a finalist to the Board of Supervisors on July 7, with public design workshops beginning later this summer.
“The traditional tower that people are thinking of will not be there,” Mr. Weber said, pledging to keep residents involved as the project moves forward.
When Marin County Fire unveiled preliminary plans in December 2023, Mr. Weber and his team proposed building a tall training tower and full headquarters complex on the 22-acre clubhouse parcel at the former San Geronimo Golf Course, which the county purchased from the Trust for Public Land two and a half years ago for $4.5 million.
At the June 8 community meeting, Mr. Weber outlined plans to break the project into several smaller parts to reduce its overall mass and more closely resemble a West Marin ranch, with scattered homes, barns and outbuildings. The former golf clubhouse could be razed rather than renovated.
A traditional headquarters would include administrative offices and a dispatch center, but in response to early community feedback about the project’s scope and scale, Marin Fire decided two years ago to move those operations from Woodacre to a county building in San Rafael, where they will remain after the new facility is built.
The new station will replace the current headquarters, located two miles east in a residential neighborhood in Woodacre. The department has outgrown that building, and access is difficult. Constructed in the 1940s, it lacks modern safety features and living quarters for a mixed-gender workforce.
The new complex is expected to include a fire station with dorms, a multipurpose space for training and community use, a storage warehouse and a shop for truck repair.
Initial plans outlined by the department in 2024 called for locating the fire station near Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, a prospect that alarmed some residents, who thought it wouldn’t blend with the former golf course property, which is bisected by San Geronimo Creek and crisscrossed by hiking trails.
But Mr. Weber said whichever firm is hired might consider locating the station farther from the road.
Community interest in the project remains high. More than 150 residents attended a meeting in December to learn more about the department’s plans and submitted more than 200 comments with ideas for what the project should look like.
As they have in the past, residents at the June 8 session expressed concerns about noise, lighting and environmental impacts.
Woodacre resident D.B. Finnegan said the valley’s bowl-like shape amplifies sound. She said she can hear cars turning onto Nicasio Valley Road from her ridgetop home and feared station announcements or construction noise would carry in the same way. Residents also raised concerns about nesting northern spotted owls, lighting that could affect the night sky, and chemical containment near an ephemeral stream.
The county has already conducted an environmental review that found the project could be completed without significant environmental impacts if appropriate mitigation measures are taken. Mr. Weber said further environmental reviews will take place before construction begins, likely late next year.
After a design team is selected, the department will host a series of community workshops later this summer where residents can help shape the final design, Mr. Weber said.
“I’ve been very impressed with how receptive the fire department is to hearing community comments, and how apparently willing they are to make modifications to make this something that works for everybody,” Ken Naffziger, the vice chair of the planning group’s steering committee, said.
Woodacre resident Chris Coolidge, a fire captain at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, acknowledged the challenges the department faces in finding a solution that would satisfy everyone.
“It’d be very hard to build a fire station in one of the most environmentally friendly places on the planet with outspoken human beings that are very defensive of Mother Nature,” he said. “The fact that you guys are hearing us is amazing.”
The new station will serve the valley for decades to come, Mr. Weber said, and finding the right vision will require trade-offs. Rather than dictate solutions, he said, the team aims to collaborate with residents to find a “sweet spot” that balances the department’s operational needs with the community’s desire to preserve the valley’s character.