Coronavirus delays city land purchase next to Moss Rock boulder field

The Hoover City Council was considering a proposal for the city to buy about 11 acres next to the 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve nature park to serve as a buffer for the popular boulder fields and as a parking area, but that proposal has been sidelined due to financial concerns related to the new coronavirus.

The property is along Preserve Parkway, just east of the roundabout at the corner of the existing commercial town center.

There are about 8 acres on the north side of Preserve Parkway and 2-3 acres on the south side of the parkway that U.S. Steel had offered to sell to the city. The sale price that was negotiated is $475,000, City Administrator Allan Rice said.

The idea is to build a parking lot for the nature park on part of the land because U.S. Steel plans to develop the area where people currently park, Mayor Frank Brocato said.

However, the city doesn’t want to make a parking lot that is a “concrete jungle,” Brocato said.

The idea is to create a parking area that is environmentally friendly and that complements the nature park, he said.  

Also, the goal is to keep a tree canopy on some of the land to serve as a buffer for the boulder fields and keep development from getting any closer, he said.

Numerous residents already have complained about the grading that has occurred to the north of the existing commercial center, even though development of that area was in the U.S. Steel’s plans all along.

Brocato said the Moss Rock Preserve nature park is a natural resource that is enjoyed not just by Hoover residents, but people from all over the world.

U.S. Steel plans to build an entrance to the parking area and a pad for a small welcome center for the park, he said. This will give it more of a defined entrance point, he said.

The number of parking spaces has not been determined, nor the size of the welcome center, Brocato said.

The land purchase was slated to go to the Hoover City Council for approval on March 16 but was withdrawn due to concerns about the city losing tax revenue with an economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus.

“At this point, we’re not looking to buy any property, other than what we’ve already contracted for,” Council President Gene Smith said.

He hopes that as the economy straightens out, the land purchase can be considered. “That does create a good buffer for the boulder field,” he said.

Ken Wills, president of the Friends of the Moss Rock Preserve, said he would like to see the city make this purchase.

Unfortunately, when the Moss Rock Preserve nature park first was created, the border for the park was right next to the boulder fields — one of the most visited parts of the park, Wills said.

“This will kind of help fix that,” he said.

The Moss Rock Preserve also has always lacked a permanent parking area, Wills said. Up to this point, U.S. Steel has allowed people to park on land it owns, but the master plan for The Preserve subdivision always showed that area being developed, he said.