Citrus Heights Planning Commission members unanimously approved a design review permit for the demolition and replacement of Metro Fire Station 23 on Greenback Lane. The decision allows a larger, two-story facility to move forward and grants a variance reducing the setback from the neighboring property line to 4.5 feet. The approval came after a next-door resident asked commissioners to address privacy and construction concerns, according to Citrus Heights Sentinel.
A Bigger, Modernized Replacement for a 1965 Station
Metro Fire Station 23, at 6421 Greenback Lane, has served as a public fire station since 1965, according to Citrus Heights Sentinel. Metro Fire’s plan is to replace the existing building with a 19,500-square-foot, two-story station. An August report by the Citrus Heights Sentinel described a design with five engine bays on the ground floor and accommodations for as many as 15 personnel.
The approved design retains five engine bays and space for administrative, command and support functions, alongside living quarters for up to 15 personnel, the Citrus Heights Sentinel reported. It also places the living quarters apart from the engines and includes decontamination areas, updated accommodations and fitness facilities. Metro Fire says the replacement is intended to strengthen response capabilities, firefighter safety, operational efficiency and long-term service delivery.
Setback Variance and Site Upgrades
To accommodate the apparatus bays and vehicle movements, the August proposal sought a reduction in the east side-yard setback from 30 feet to 5 feet. Commissioners approved a 4.5-foot setback from the neighboring property line. The site covers just over 43,000 square feet, nearly an acre, according to the earlier Sentinel report.
Plans also cover changes across the site, including more employee parking, a covered fuel island, an emergency generator, a trash enclosure and bicycle parking, as well as utility, landscaping and accessibility upgrades. The station already has a diesel pump; Metro Fire plans to add a gasoline pump. The landscaping plan calls for replacing trees removed during demolition and planting native shade trees and shrubs.
Neighbor Raises Privacy and Construction Concerns
Resident Samantha Cole, who lives next to the station, raised privacy and construction-proximity concerns directly to the planning commission, as reported by Citrus Heights Sentinel. Cole requested obscured second-story windows facing her residence, or some other privacy-protecting design feature, after city staff confirmed that the second-story windows in question will directly face a stand of redwood trees between her property and the fire station.
Cole also asked for protections for those redwood trees during construction. The city, which requires precautions when projects encounter nearby trees under its tree ordinance, has assessed the risk of harming the redwoods as low, and plans another arborist review before construction begins.
Construction Timeline and Oversight Promises
On the construction process itself, Cole requested a pre-construction survey and vibration monitoring, work limited to weekday daytime hours with no weekends, advance notice of construction times, dust and debris controls, and contact information for the construction company before work begins. In response, Metro Fire and city staff said they will notify nearby residents of construction schedules in advance and provide a central point of contact during the project. City building inspectors will also conduct site reviews both before and during construction, and city staff said they can be reached if concerns arise once work is underway.
Per a report from Citrus Heights Sentinel, a Metro Fire project manager said construction is not expected to begin until summer 2027, and the agency still needs building permits approved before any work can start.
How Measure O Fits In
The Station 23 remodel is funded by Measure O, the $415 million bond measure that Sacramento-area voters passed in November 2024 with more than a two-thirds majority. Measure O funds are earmarked to modernize fire station facilities that are more than 50 years old, and Metro Fire has said it is targeting 18 stations for modernization under the program. A Metro Fire capital improvement plan has listed Station 23 alongside Stations 112, 42, and 61 among the district's critical new fire station projects.
Measure O’s Place in the Capital Budget
The district’s preliminary FY 2025/26 capital improvement plan projected that about 74.8% of that fiscal year’s spending would come from the Measure O Building Fund. It projected 11.7% from the Special Projects Fund for the Zinfandel project, 11.5% from the Development Impact Fee Fund, 1.8% from the General Fund and less than 1% from the Capital Facilities Fund, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Those figures provide a districtwide budget snapshot, not a station-by-station allocation or project-completion update.
