Chesterfield, MO-On Friday September 16, Judge Richard Stewart issued his decision in favor of The Monarch Fire Protection District, which has dutifully sought to replace a 52-year-old, decaying fire house, located at 18424 Wild Horse Creek Road, with a new state-of-the-art facility, which will be located approximately one-third of a mile to the east at 18304 Wild Horse Creek Road. Construction of the new house is in response to the overwhelming passage of a ballot initiative June 2, 2020. Rebuilding was not an option since Wildwood requires a minimum of two acres and the current site is 1.2 acres with no adjacent acreage available. In accordance, Monarch purchased the land at 18304 Wild Horse Creek Road and was ready to build a new station with the added capability of housing an ALS Ambulance that is planned for the new station. This will significantly improve Ambulance response times in Wildwood and surrounding areas. Several weeks ago Monarch issued a public notice that construction of the new station was in jeopardy due to a dispute with the City of Wildwood.
While several concerns were initially raised by the City of Wildwood about the construction of this station, they were eventually whittled down to a dispute how the new station would impact response times. While projections reveal 171 homes and occupied businesses will have faster response times, the issue was that there are 41 homes and one business that will have slower response times that average 10 seconds. Judge Stewart ruled: The requirement in the City of Wildwood’s May 5, 2021 conditional use permit that Monarch Fire Protection District’s new fire house, located at 18304 Wild Horse Creek Road, meet or exceed the call time standard set out in NFPA 1710 is hereby declared unenforceable. The City of Wildwood is enjoined from enforcing this provision of its conditional use permit. Having complied with all other requirements of the conditional use permit, Monarch Fire Protection District may move forward with construction of the new fire house.
Monarch Fire Protection District began as a volunteer fire department in 1925. Today, the District covers almost 63 square miles and provides fire, rescue, and EMS services to more than 60,000 people who live in all, or parts, of Ballwin, Chesterfield, Clarkson Valley, Creve Coeur, Maryland Heights, Wildwood, and unincorporated St. Louis County, operating out of five fire houses This includes one on Olive at Fernview Drive which, as part of the June 2020 ballot initiative, is currently under construction and slated to re-open in early 2023.
Contact:
Cary Spiegel, Fire Chief, Monarch Fire Protection District
[email protected]
(314) 581-2200