The Jericho Fire District, which is currently headquartered on Route 106/107 across from the CVS Shopping Center, submitted a site plan in October 2001 to the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Planning and Development to construct a new fire department across the street from the current location.

After being looked at by the Department of Planning and Development, the plans were returned to the Jericho fire district and some changes were made. The revised plans are currently in the site plan review process and are being reviewed by the Department of Planning and Development and a town consultant.

The proposed fire house would be located 240 feet north of Birchwood Park Drive in Jericho. According to a spokesperson for the Town of Oyster Bay, "[the application] could wind up in front of the town board, the planning advisory board - we don't know. We will proceed after a recommendation is made by the town's consultant. There is no deadline and they do not need a change of zone in order to build this."

Commissioner Bachteler, commissioner of the board at the Jericho Fire Department, failed to return numerous phone calls that were made to him over the past two weeks.

"Any information that is needed needs to be gotten through the district," said architect Robert M. Scheiner from the H2M Group when questioned about the specifics of the building. "The Jericho Fire Department is my client and I need their permission in order to speak. These plans have been publicly filed with the building department and it is no secret. We are waiting to hear from the building department."

The gross floor area of the proposed three-story building, as listed in the plans, is 30,923 square feet. This number is broken down and allows for 1,867 square feet for office space; 9,425 square feet for assembly/meeting; 8,115 square feet for apparatus room and 11,516 square feet for storage/other.

The front yard, in the plans, consists of 22.3 feet, the side yard 26.7 feet and the rear yard 129.5 feet. The building height is 38 feet, which is over the allowable height in that area and would ordinarily require a variance from the Town of Oyster Bay Zoning Board, but according to a town law, the Fire Department is considered a quasi-governmental agency and is thus exempt from needing a variance.

The off-street parking that is required in this lot is 93 spaces and 56 are proposed in the plans by the fire district. Again, referring to the same law, they are exempt from needing the variance that would ordinarily be required in the designated area if the Fire Department were not considered a quasi-governmental agency by the town.

According to the plans, all of the vegetation and trees on the site will be removed and disposed of and all of the tree stumps will also be removed. A landscape architect has been hired and submitted plans to the town regarding the vegetation and landscaping on the property.

The Birchwood Civic Association [BCA] on behalf of the community, has concerns and unanswered questions about the proposed fire department. "If we are not given the information that we need, no one can properly evaluate anything - the cost, size, the need and if they can utilize what they have rather than building," said Michael J. Heller president of the BCA.

Heller explained that the BCA met with Fire Department officials and saw original plans. "The discussion generated several comments and questions and since then we have not been able to get any of our questions answered. We recently filed a request under the Freedom of Information Law to obtain documents since we can't get a response from anyone," said Heller. "We are looking to work with them, but it is very difficult to do that when we can't get questions answered. We are a community and they rely on the community a lot and we rely on them. We appreciate that they have certain needs, but we need questions answered for the community."

According to Heller, the BCA is looking for better cooperation between the Fire Department and the community. "If the facility is going to be built it should be done in harmony with the community and that requires cooperation and communication. We are not looking for a battle - we are looking to work with them, but if we don't get answers, we'll have to take other actions."