Laguna Beach studies village entrance, OCTA parcel and water-district site for new Fire Station 1; EOC collocation estimated to add about $6 million

Laguna Beach officials on Thursday weighed site options for a replacement Fire Station 1 and asked staff to return with further analysis of three narrowed alternatives: the village entrance north of City Hall, the former OCTA bus-stop parcel downtown, and potential use of property tied to the Laguna Beach County Water District.

Dustin Alamo, vice president and project manager for Griffin Structures, told the council that the existing station is “undersized” and “difficult to access” and that the proposed village-entrance site scored highest among city-owned alternatives in a comparison of cost, response time and zoning compatibility. He said the consulting team also reviewed other downtown sites and northern Laguna alternatives, each with trade-offs in cost, acquisition, timing and zoning.

Why it matters: Council members said public safety is a high priority and pointed to seismic concerns and space constraints at several existing stations. The council directed staff to further study a smaller set of practical options rather than pursue remote land acquisition that could delay replacement.

How the options compare: Consultants reported that consolidating fire, police and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in a single new complex is operationally feasible but expensive: the collocation concept, including city hall renovation and structured parking, was estimated at about $90 million to $121 million. Separately, consultants presented a Fire Station 1 design that could incorporate an EOC within the 36-foot height limit and said, “factoring the EOC adds roughly $6,000,000 to the project,” producing a station-plus-EOC budget in roughly the $30 million to $33 million range.

Council directions and constraints: Councilmembers expressed a preference for using city-owned sites where possible to limit acquisition costs. Several members specifically supported further study of the village-entrance site and the former bus-stop (OCTA) parcel, and asked staff to evaluate the Laguna Beach County Water District building as a possible longer-term administrative or public safety location. The council also asked for more detail on parking impacts and turnaround/access arrangements for the selected site.

No formal action taken: This was a study-session discussion; no motions or votes were taken. Consultants will return with refined analyses of the sites the council identified for further study.

Next steps: Staff will prepare more detailed site analyses (including parking and access, cost differentials, and timelines) for the council’s review and will fold the preferred direction into the facilities master plan adoption process.