Goochland seeks feedback on West Creek fire-rescue station plans

Goochland County is asking residents to weigh in on the future West Creek Fire-Rescue Station 7, a project county officials say is aimed at faster response in the eastern end of the county, where call volume and development along the 288 corridor keep rising. The community meeting was held Monday at 6 p.m. at Manakin Company 1, 180 River Rd W in Manakin-Sabot, and county staff and project representatives were on hand to gather input on the station’s architectural features, exterior finishes and other design elements.

The proposed station is planned for a five-acre parcel on the east line of Hockett Road, north of Tuckahoe Creek Parkway, on Goochland County Tax Map No. 58-32-3-53-A. County procurement documents say the site includes wetlands and a natural gas line and easement, details that will shape how the building is laid out and how access is handled. County officials have said eastern Goochland is still served primarily by Company 1 in Manakin and Company 3 in Centerville, and that Station 7 would add capacity rather than replace those existing resources.

The location search has been tied to response time from the start. A January 2023 county presentation said site-selection criteria included maximizing response times, using a 1/3/5-mile response radius and improving east-west and north-south road network connectivity. County documents describe Station 7 as needed to address explosive growth in eastern Goochland, where officials project more than 1,000 additional Fire-Rescue calls as new homes and commercial development come online.

The Board of Supervisors approved a contract in April 2026 with HBA Architecture & Interior Design for architectural and engineering services, which county officials described as the first step in expanding public safety infrastructure in the east. The county had paused work on Station 7 in April 2024 while it searched for the best east-side site, then revived the project in 2025-26 after narrowing the options.

Station 7 also fits into a broader rebuild of Goochland’s fire-rescue map. County officials have said it is the second expansion beyond the original six fire districts established in the 1950s, following Station 8 in Sandy Hook, which the county calls the first new fire-rescue district added in more than 60 years and says should be substantially complete in late spring or early summer 2027.