The city of Renton is planning to vacate a right-of-way for a new fire station in the Highlands.
At its Nov. 10 meeting, the Renton City Council set a public hearing for Dec. 1 for a street vacation in order to build the new fire station on SE 128th Street.
“In this case, the Renton Regional Fire Authority has multiple parcels with an unimproved right-of-way running through the middle of the overall project, which right-of-way has never been used as a street,” Renton Economic Development Director Amanda Free said. “The street vacation will vacate that right-of-way, and the land will become part of the adjacent properties to which the city will no longer own that right-of-way land.”
The three parcels this right-of-way cuts through are numbered 366450008, 3664500330 and 366450007, and are owned by the Renton Regional Fire Authority, according to the King County Assessor. The right-of-way is connected to parcel number 3664500320, which is owned by Lord of Life Lutheran Church.
Free said each street vacation petition is reviewed for public benefit and other considerations by internal and external stakeholders prior to the public hearing.
“Street vacations are not common as they typically involve right-of-way that the city no longer sees a need for in the future,” Free said. “This is common for large scale projects such as this fire station, recent school projects, or large development projects such as Solera.”
The new fire station, located at 15815 SE 128th St., is replacing the current station located at 12923 156th Ave. SE. A Facebook post from Renton Firefighters IAFF 864 said that the new station will be a “state-of-the-art facility” that will feature three drive-through bays and dorms for up to eight firefighters “for the potential of additional staffing in the years to come.”
“Fire Station 16 is being designed with the future in mind,” according to a news release. “One of its key features is the inclusion of hot, warm and cold zones, which will help prevent contamination from the apparatus bay or emergency calls from reaching the station’s living quarters.”
