A look ahead: Leaders to turn focus on city planning

Two new hires in 2017 will set the tone for the city of Hoover in the new year, Mayor Frank Brocato said.

The city hired Mac Martin Jr. as an in-house city planner in April to replace Hoover’s longtime outside planning consultant, Bob House. Then, in December, the city hired the vice president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, Greg Knighton, to serve in the new position of economic developer.

House and Knighton will be key in helping shape a new Hoover that is more walkable and less dependent on retail dollars for financial success, Brocato said.

The mayor said he’s anxious to get a comprehensive plan in place — a key element in his 2016 campaign. Martin is leading that effort, with the help of the KPS Group consulting firm.

So far, Martin and the consultants have been gathering information and data about the current state of the city. They plan to have three community meetings in various parts of town to allow people to share their vision for the city’s next 20 years and also will conduct an online survey, Martin said.

Those meetings will be:

• Thursday, Jan. 25, 6:30 p.m. at Greystone Elementary School
• Tuesday, Jan. 30, 6:30 p.m. at Shades Crest Baptist Church
• Tuesday, Feb. 6, 6:30 p.m. at the Hoover Municipal Center

The survey can be found at futurehoover.com.

All of the information collected will be used to determine the city’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and to develop a draft version of the comprehensive plan, Martin said.

The goal is to have a draft version ready by early summer for review by an advisory committee, made up of 12-15 stakeholders from various sectors of the community, Martin said. Then, he wants to have a version for review by the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council by mid-summer, he said.

The city also hopes to have an updated bicycle, pedestrian and greenway plan for the public to review in early 2018, said Tim Westhoven, the city’s chief operations officer. People shared ideas for where they would like to see more sidewalks, bike paths and greenways during meetings this past summer.

Brocato said he particularly would like to make the Cahaba River more accessible to people with trails and canoe launches.

The bicycle and pedestrian paths may have to be done in stages, he said. City officials first will seek out projects that are inexpensive and easy to do, he said.

“Coming up with plans of what you want to do with these things is pretty easy,” Brocato said. “Paying for it is what’s difficult.”

The city planner in 2018 also will continue to work with commercial developers to make sure their properties are pedestrian-friendly and look for ways to redevelop some older shopping centers, Brocato said.

“I think we’ve got some opportunities in Bluff Park for sure,” he said.

City officials also will continue trying to identify the best place to create a “downtown Hoover” area and talking with various property owners to make that vision a reality, Brocato said.

Economic development

On the economic development front, Hoover will continue pursuing companies with a science, technology, engineering and math focus, the mayor said.

“Those type businesses are out there. They are looking to move,” Brocato said. “They need to know we’re the right spot for them. We need to market Hoover as a technology city.”

Knighton will help the city develop an inventory of available office space and land and determine the best incentives the city can offer to lure more companies. The city council recently approved abatements of non-educational property taxes and sales taxes to help McLeod Software move its corporate headquarters to Meadow Brook Corporate Park and help IberiaBank create a regional headquarters in International Park.

Knighton has a wealth of experience in economic development and knows what Hoover needs to do to accomplish its mission, Brocato said.

Other projects

The city also will continue working in 2018 to improve traffic flow, Brocato said. A priority area is South Shades Crest Road, he said. “We want to get that done.”

Construction should begin soon on a long-planned project to realign and improve the intersection of South Shades Crest and Eden Ridge Drive so that Eden Ridge and Shades Run Circle are directly across from one another where they meet South Shades Crest, City Engineer Rodney Long said.

City officials also plan to add a second northbound lane on South Shades Crest from Eden Ridge Drive to Alabama 150. They are trying to do that project without federal money to speed the process up and hope to begin construction in 2019.

A much larger project, to add a new interchange on Interstate 459 just south of South Shades Crest Road, would require federal approval and federal money, but Brocato said his staff and the city’s new lobbyist will try to bring that project back to life.

“We don’t want it to be a 10-year plan,” he said. “We really want to try to get something done in the next five years.”

City officials also are exploring a joint project with Helena and Pelham for improvements to Shelby County 17 and are working on alternatives to divert traffic off U.S. 280, Brocato said. The city also is having conversations with the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority about creating dedicated lanes for rapid bus transit on U.S. 280, he said.

Other city projects in the works for 2018 include a police training facility, renovations to the Hoover Municipal Center and completion of the five new baseball/softball fields at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.

The natural turf field is expected to be ready in time for the 2018 SEC Baseball Tournament in May, and the four artificial turf fields should be ready by August, Hoover Met Complex General Manager Monty Jones said.

The five multi-purpose fields that can be used for soccer, lacrosse, rugby and field hockey should be ready in the first quarter of 2019, and the 16 tennis courts should be ready in January or February 2019, Jones said.

This story was updated at 9:52 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 12, with updated dates, times and locations for the comprehensive plan public input meetings and the web address for the online survey being conducted to help develop a comprehensive plan.