A controversial plan to have the Richmond Fire Department build a training facility on a two-acre section of the lawn at the Hickory Community Center that the Planning Commission rejected has returned to City Council’s agenda.

The council’s Public Safety Committee last week recommended that the governing body override the Planning Commission and authorize development of the new training center at the South Side site to replace an outdated and essentially condemned facility in Sandston in Henrico County.

Committee Chair Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, who has been a staunch supporter, was joined by council Vice President Kristen Nye in advancing the proposal, which came to the committee less than 24 hours after being introduced at the Monday council meeting.

The action belied a previous Free Press report that the council apparently had accepted the Planning Commission’s verdict. The report was based on information from the council.

The committee’s action sends it to the full council for action at the Monday, May 8, meeting. The council would need six votes to override the Planning Commission.

First District Councilman Andreas D. Addison, a member of the Planning Commission who led the opposition on that body, is expected to urge council to reject the proposal when the matter comes up for debate.

While there has been significant opposition, none of the residents who previously had spoken against the proposal turned out to the committee meeting or called in by phone to register disapproval. Residents who support the proposal also did not participate.

Fire Chief Melvin D. Carter told the committee that he and his predecessors have sought to have a city training facility since 1980. He noted that the facility would benefit the department to meeting training standards for recruits and veterans and help the city maintain its top fire rating for insurance purposes.

He said the facility would only have burning inside four to six times a year and would not impact the area with loud noise or other disruptions. He said the department would offer community education classes to help people be more equipped to respond to health emergencies and would improve the computer equipment at the center.

However, opponents have pointed to the loss of green space that would result, flouting the policy that Mayor Levar M. Stoney and the council put in place that calls for expanding green space in South Richmond.

The arrival of the facility would eliminate a field where children and youths play soccer, disrupt plans to develop a community garden and halt additional tree plantings that Richmond Releaf has undertaken.

The green space at Hickory Hill is described as the largest park in that section of the city. The residential areas around the park are ranked at or near the top of the state’s list for asthma and other chronic diseases and is recognized as an area of above normal air pollution due to releases from nearby factories.