The Richmond Fire Department can proceed with building a new training center on a 2-acre section of lawn at Hickory Hill Community Center in South Side, despite the property being zoned as residential.

The Richmond Board of Zoning Appeals voted on Wednesday to approve an exception for the project, clearing the way for the development that fire officials estimate will cost nearly $1 million, about half of which would come from a state grant.

Chairman Rodney M. Poole, who also serves on the Planning Commission, said that testimony and documents presented to the appeals board show the project meets the criteria for a zoning exception as spelled out in the City Charter.

The court-appointed panel is authorized by the charter to allow such public projects “when reasonably necessary in the public interest ... in any district in which they are prohibited,” such as land zoned as residential.

The board found that the department and city had proven the new training center was needed and had met their burden of showing that the project during construction and use would “adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the occupants of the adjoining and surrounding property.”

According to the board, the department also met the other conditions – that the development “shall not unreasonably impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, shall not increase congestion in streets and shall not increase public danger from fire or otherwise affect public safety.”

City Council had approved the project last month, with vigorous support from the area’s council representative, Reva M. Trammell. The department applied to the appeals board in April to overcome the zoning prohibition.

The project had faced substantial opposition from supporters of Hickory Hill and from residents of adjoining neighborhoods. The developer of a bird sanctuary that sits across the railroad tracks from Hickory Hill expressed concern at the disturbance the construction and use of the training center would cause to the wildlife in the sanctuary.