NEWPORT BEACH : Man Vows to Fight Fire Station Plan

A Balboa Island resident has vowed to rally residents in support of appealing the City Council’s decision this week to build a new fire station on the island.

“They’re asking for a lawsuit,” Ellis Morcos said after council members unanimously voted Monday to approve construction of the fire station at the corner of Marine and Park avenues. Morcos lives next door to the site.

Morcos said he plans to file a lawsuit or seek an Orange County Grand Jury investigation on the grounds that an environmental study on how the new fire station will affect nearby residents was not conducted.

Morcos told council members that the station will create “serious environmental effects.” But city planners determined that there is no “substantial evidence that residents will be significantly affected” and, therefore, said an environmental impact report was unnecessary.

“Everybody is really burned up about this decision,” Morcos said.

But Ralph Rodheim, president of the Balboa Island Improvement Assn., said that he represents many of the island’s 1,700 residents in saying they want the fire station for the safety of all residents.

Betty Fellinge, an island resident for more than 50 years, agreed. “I’m concerned about the welfare of the island. It’s just a few individuals who are absorbed by their own selfish needs that are trying to jeopardize the lives of all of us,” she said.

Tom Sullivan, another Balboa Island resident, said: “It’s not that we don’t want a Balboa Island fire station. We want it, but we just think we should have an independent study to determine which is the best site for it.”

The city bought the lot at 124 Marine Ave. two years ago. For 37 years before that, it was used as a gas station.

Pending approval by the California Coastal Commission, construction is scheduled to begin next year and is expected to be completed by Jan. 1, 1994.

Fire officials have maintained that the existing Balboa Island Fire Station, at 323 Marine Ave., is so small that it cannot house modern fire equipment and that the three firefighters stationed there are crammed into a few hundred square feet of living space.

The $1-million station will be 4,454 square feet in size.

“The present building does not meet the state earthquake standards, and it’s virtually impossible to bring it up to standards without demolishing and rebuilding,” said Councilman Clarence J. Turner.

Fire Chief Timothy D. Riley said the relocation will allow firefighters to respond to island emergencies in five minutes or less.

“In general,” he said, “I think the adjacent residents have no grudge with the fire station. I know there will be some impact, and we will do our best to be good neighbors.”