Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of frequently asked questions about the Fire Station 27 project. The answers below are intended to be as factual as possible using information that has been sourced from city council meetings and other documents shared with the public.
What stage is the project in? Is it too late to stop it?
As of Jan 2026, the project is currently in the design phase, as shown on the Roswell Bond Projects Dashboard. In Dec 2024, a task order was awarded to Hussey Gay Bell for designing Fire Station 27 at the East Roswell Park site. However, the design is still pending final approval from the Roswell Design Review Board. Until the design is approved, no construction contracts can be awarded.
For this reason, it is not too late for the city to select an alternative site.
What are the impacts of this project on the park?
In addition to the two-story fire station building, the latest design also includes:
- A wraparound driveway surrounding the building because Fouts Road is not wide enough for the fire engines to turn into the bays without one
- The driveway will lead directly onto Fouts Road, forcing a section of the perimeter walking trail to cross in front of the fire engine garage bays
- An above-ground detention pond alongside the perimeter walking trail near the dog park entrance
- This is needed to handle stormwater drainage due to the large amount of paved surface that will be added by the fire station
- Underground detention was dropped from consideration because of cost concerns
- The removal of 221 trees, mostly around disc golf holes 3, 4, and 5, and also potentially along the walking trail leading into the park near the dog park.
- The displacement of several disc golf holes, and general loss of disc golf course land area
- Hole 4 will be completely lost due to being in the footprint of the new fire station
- Much of the land for holes 3 and 5 will be lost, requiring substantial rework to fit them into an area typically only used for 1 hole
- Holes 2, 6, and 7 will also likely have to be modified in order to make space to accommodate holes 3 & 5, in addition to the changes needed to make the course flow between the new locations
Why does the fire station need to be relocated?
In 2022, the City of Roswell hired a consulting firm to conduct a gap analysis of the Roswell Fire Department (RFD) and found that the RFD’s travel times exceed modern standards. The NFPA 1710 standard is a travel time under 4 minutes, 90% of the time. However, RFD’s analysis of Fire Station 27 showed travel times of 6 minutes and 56 seconds, 90% of the time.
In 2024, RFD conducted a Fire Response analysis simulating travel time improvements after both relocating Fire Station 27 AND implementing a new traffic preemption system that allows operators to override traffic lights to make way for emergency vehicles. The simulations estimate that together, these changes could reduce travel times to 4 minutes and 48 seconds, 90% of the time. No simulations using only the traffic preemption system, or only relocating the fire station were ever published.
In general, the current location of Fire Station 27 is very near both the city and county lines. Relocating the fire station further west should reduce the travel time from the station to many Roswell addresses.
How is this project being funded?
In November 2022, Roswell voters approved Bond Program funds on the ballot including:
- $107.6 million for Recreation, Parks, Bicycle & Pedestrian Paths, and Sidewalks (74% in favor)
- $52 million for Public Safety (Police & Fire) Capital Projects (73% in favor)
This project is primarily funded by the bond dollars from the “Public Safety Capital Projects” bucket listed above. Notably, the Public Safety ballot question did not specify the locations where any fire stations would be relocated to. It raises the question as to whether the voters would find relocating the fire station into East Roswell Park in conflict with the Parks & Recreation ballot question from the same election cycle.
How was East Roswell Park selected?
The 2022 gap analysis (pg. 22) recommended that Fire Station 27 be moved to the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Steeple Chase Drive to lower travel times.
In 2023, a consultant was hired by the City of Roswell to perform a site assessment of 3 potential locations at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Fouts Road instead. East Roswell Park was one of these locations. The assessment preferred 2 sites that were south of Holcomb Bridge Road due to the fact that making a right-turn onto Holcomb Bridge Road would be favorable for response times. The assessment had a preference for “Site 2”: the site that was NOT East Roswell Park. However, the city cited land acquisition costs and less-favorable topography as reasons to choose East Roswell Park instead.
The 2024 Fire Response analysis used an optimization model to find a new location for Fire Station 27 that would best improve response times. The model also recommended the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Steeple Chase Drive, which the city interpreted as confirmation of the East Roswell Park site selection.
What other sites were evaluated?
The 2023 site assessment evaluated 3 potential locations for relocating Fire Station 27:
- “Site 1” - 2350 Holcomb Bridge Road, the site of the former Rite Aid
- “Site 2” - 9140 Fouts Road, the site of Iglesia Pentecostés Church
- “Site 3” - East Roswell Park along Fouts Road, the current planned location
Notably, the City of Roswell did not perform any formal site assessments beyond the Fouts Road intersection.
Have residents successfully fought major projects like this before?
Yes! One similar example is Fire Station 24 when it was being relocated from the site that is now Roswell Firelabs. The 2024 Fire Response analysis showed its current location to be very close to the model’s recommendation. However, this was not the first choice spot for relocating this station at the time.
The city’s original plan in 2013 was to build the fire station in Big Creek Park, once again taking a chunk of popular and heavily used park space to build a new fire station. There was considerable citizen opposition to that, and it was thanks to the persistent efforts of local residents and park users that the city changed their plans. The current location for Fire Station 24 was privately owned at the time. However, the city chose to purchase the parcel for $1,000,000 on 12/10/2014, and built the new fire station there instead.
Are there other examples in Roswell where a fire station is so close to someone’s front door?
No. The closest example is Roswell Fire Station 26. However, in that example the bays point parallel to Cox Road, not across the street towards the house. Additionally, the house across from Fire Station 26 is set back much further.
On Fouts Road, the front doors of the townhomes are less than 20 feet from the edge of the street, and less than 50 feet away from the proposed location of the fire engine driveway. The garage bays will also be pointed directly across Fouts Road, meaning that any lights from the fire station would shine directly into the front door and windows of the residences.
Is this the first time that parts of East Roswell Park have been converted to other uses?
No. In approximately 2007, Roswell’s mayor offered the Atlanta-Fulton County Library System “up to 2 acres” of East Roswell Park property to build a new library for East Roswell (the parcel actually transferred to the library system measures 2.9 acres). Construction began in 2013 and the library opened to the public in early 2015. The library construction and related infrastructure (new sewer line connecting library to existing lines in the park) required relocation of several features of the disc golf course, specifically on holes 4, 5, and 6. These same holes will require reconfiguration again, along with hole 3, if the station is built as planned.
In 2013, the city announced plans to construct a new road into the park from Eves Road. At the time, the only park access was from Fouts Rd. The initial route for the road would have connected to the parking lot between the tennis courts and playground, run northward briefly before turning west to connect to Eves Rd and the intersection with Eves Circle (near the entrance to the Woodfield subdivision). This route would have required removal of 4-5 holes of the disc golf course, with no viable options for reconfiguration or replacement. The city held public meetings and provided other avenues for citizen input, and the volume and intensity of the negative response led the city transportation department to rework the route to pass west of the tennis courts. The new route ran directly over the first part of hole 11 of the disc golf course, but by relocating the basket and tee pads the hole was saved. Slightly over 1 acre of wooded/natural area of the park was paved/disturbed by this. The road was constructed in 2014.
Also in 2013, the city of Roswell in conjunction with the other municipalities in North Fulton County decided to construct a 400 ft high emergency services radio tower on a portion of East Roswell Park, between the Rec Center, Arts Center, and what is now the dog park. The as-built footprint for the radio tower and related structues is about 0.2 acres.