By Matt Garfield
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
Copyright 2007 McClatchy Newspapers Inc.
All Rights Reserved
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Rock Hill’s Fire Station No. 1 on Elizabeth Lane is showing signs of age. The walls are starting to break apart after decades of vibrations from trucks driving in and out.
Built in 1963, the station also is too small to house its staff, including four supervisors who share office space in a cramped upstairs bedroom.
So the fire department has a solution: Move the trucks to a new station farther south on Albright Road, closer to where scores of homes are going up in new subdivisions around South Pointe High School. Plans call for converting the old station into offices and training rooms.
But in moving to take its firefighters out of downtown, the department has reignited a familiar debate about the cost of growth in Rock Hill — and who suffers because of it.
The question: Does serving new and future residents mean those already here get shortchanged?
“It just looks like we’re abandoning a large part of our population,” said Councilman Kevin Sutton, a fierce advocate for the so-called “old Rock Hill” where he grew up. “We’re moving the station to accommodate people who are new. And the folks who have paid taxes for 30, 40, 50 years are now going to get less service from our fire department.”
Sutton points out that moving away from downtown means it will take longer for firefighters to reach some downtown area churches, schools and offices, such as First Presbyterian Church and Comporium Communications’ headquarters.
But in approving the $1.8 million Albright station last week, City Council members defended a different view. They pointed to the hundreds of new families soon to fill more than 1,000 homes approved on the south side in the past two years.
Planners envisioned a development rush when they chose south Rock Hill as the location for the school district’s third high school. The logical next step, supporters say, is to plan ahead to make sure services are ready.
“If we don’t put stations in an advantageous position, we’re going to have to spend more money for more,” Councilman John Gettys said. “Where a lot of this new growth is going, our response times are going to be better.”
That’s not the only reason a move to Albright Road makes sense, said Fire Chief Mike Blackmon. The smartest approach is to put stations on the edges of the city, so that trucks can drive inward on major roads instead of navigating through narrow streets more common in the center of town.
Under the new plan, response times will remain less than five minutes for all of downtown, and insurance rates will not be affected.
“We’re running through neighborhoods, having to stop at stop signs and red lights,” Blackmon said. “At the Albright station, we’ll be hitting some straight corridors and will be able to run straight through.”
That explanation did little to sway Sutton, who voiced a sentiment heard often these days in growing cities across the Charlotte region.
“There’s a price to pay,” he said, “for the people that have lived here for a long time.”