The same City of Miami Fire-Rescue department that staffs Coconut Grove's Fire Station 8 on Oak Avenue is replacing its oldest facility and asking voters to approve $450 million in borrowing to overhaul aging stations citywide.

The Miami City Commission on July 23 approved zoning changes clearing the way for a new fire station at 770 NW 41st Ave. to replace Fire Station 10, a 63-year-old building at 4101 NW Seventh St. that can no longer house modern equipment. The replacement will be a two-story, 24,300-square-foot facility with four apparatus bays large enough to fit an aerial ladder truck, expanded dormitories and on-site parking for personnel, Miami Today News reported.

The current station cannot accommodate a ladder truck at all, according to Deputy Fire Chief Adrian Plasencia. That gap matters more each year as mid-rise and higher-density buildings rise in southwest Miami. The new station fixes that.

During a March 11 site visit, city planning staff spoke with Fire Capt. Coronado of Station 10, who said traffic congestion and backflow on Southwest Seventh Street can block emergency vehicles and delay responses.

The city's planning analysis concluded that the "old and outdated fire station poses serious community risks," including slower response times and reduced property protection. Firefighters still manually lift wet hoses after calls using a mechanical winch inside the station's aging hose-drying tower.

The Station 10 project is moving ahead independently of a broader funding question headed to the ballot. On July 9, the commission voted 3-2 to place the Safe & Ready Miami bond on the Nov. 3 ballot. If approved, the $450 million general obligation bond would fund seven new fire stations, modernization of existing ones and a new public safety headquarters. Including interest and issuance costs, total borrowing is estimated at $795 million, according to Coconut Grove Spotlight.

The bond would be repaid through ad valorem taxes within the city's current maximum debt millage rate of 0.5935 mills, with no increase to the existing rate, according to the city.

"These are problems that our city should have solved 10, 15, 20 years ago, but it didn't," Mayor Eileen Higgins said at the July 9 commission meeting, the Miami Herald reported.

The vote split along familiar lines. Commissioners Rolando Escalona, Ralph Rosado and Miguel Gabela voted yes; Commissioners Damian Pardo and Christine King voted no. Gabela's support came only after amendments requiring proceeds from a future sale of police headquarters to pay down bond debt and any grants secured for bond-funded projects to reduce borrowing.

Of the city's 17 fire-rescue stations, eight are more than 50 years old and two are more than 60 years old, with some unable to fit modern emergency vehicles.

Coconut Grove residents will see the bond question on their Nov. 3 ballots alongside a proposed statewide constitutional amendment to reduce property taxes, which city officials estimate could cut Miami's annual property tax revenues by as much as $53.9 million. No groundbreaking date for the Station 10 replacement has been announced.