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Hoover council OKs plans for Hindu temple, new subdivisions in Bluff Park, Trace Crossings

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Photo by Erin Nelson.

Landscape plan provided by city

Floor plan provided by city of H

Photo by Jon Anderson

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The Hoover City Council on Monday night approved plans for a new Hindu temple at the former AMC discount movie theater on Lorna Road, as well as revised zoning plans for new subdivisions in Bluff Park and Trace Crossings.

A Hindu congregation in Roebuck plans to convert the 38,000-square-foot AMC Classic Lorna Ridge 10 movie theater into a temple. Plans shared with the city show a worship area for up to 400 people, at least 14 classrooms, a kitchen, dining area, two play areas, lobby, prayer hall and a priest’s room with three bedrooms attached.

The Hindu congregation has services on Sundays and typically has 250 to 300 people at each service, said Richard Deaver, an attorney who represented the congregation.

The congregation has been in the Birmingham area since 1980 and is part of a religious organization that has been around since 1907, Deaver said. There are 91 similar Hindu temples across the United States, he said.

Hoover Councilman Casey Middlebrooks said he would be glad to see the now-vacant building renovated and put to positive use. Most other council members concurred.

“This is a good organization,” Councilman Mike Shaw said. “We should all be happy to have them in Hoover.”

The council voted 6-1 to approve the use of the facility as a temple. Councilman John Greene was the only dissenter, saying after the meeting only that “the Holy Spirit told me to do it (vote no).”

SMITH FARM REZONING

The council also voted 6-1 to rezone 7.6 acres of the old Smith farm property in Bluff Park to accommodate plans for a new subdivision with 44 houses.

Developer Lance Kitchens asked the council to rezone 5.7 acres from an agricultural district to an R-1 single-family residential district with lots of at least 15,000 square feet and rezone 1.9 acres on the eastern side of the property from an agricultural district to an E-2 estate district with lots of at least 20,000 square feet.

Land immediately to the north, west and south already is zoned R-1, and land to the east is zoned E-2.

Kitchens owns a total of about 26 acres in that vicinity, and the new subdivision would take up most of that property. The new subdivision is essentially the same one the City Council rejected unanimously in March, only with three fewer houses.

Charlie Beavers, an attorney representing Kitchens, said Kitchens, with the current zoning on the property he owns, could fit 43 new houses there.

But the rezoning plan approved Monday night will allow him to build a subdivision with more consistency in lot sizes and will allow him to keep an existing house on a 2.5-acre parcel rather than tearing that house down.

Kitchens also agreed to plant evergreen trees between his property and nearby homes on Savoy Street and Bonnie Brook Drive.

Several people who live near the property in question voiced opposition to the plans as presented. Glenn Ellis said he wanted all the lots to be at least 1 acre in size and said he doesn’t believe the Hoover school system can handle more children.

Several residents said they are concerned the roads in that area can’t handle additional traffic, but a traffic study conducted by a traffic engineer for Kitchens indicated the impact on area roads would be minimal, and City Engineer Chris Reeves has concurred with that analysis.

The council voted 6-1 in favor of Kitchens’ rezoning request, with Councilman Casey Middlebrooks casting the lone no vote.

Middlebrooks said after the meeting he wasn’t convinced that Kitchens’ rezoning plan was better than the current zoning on the property. He said he didn’t believe Kitchens could get 43 houses with the current zoning, thought there was an unresolved issue concerning right of way leading to the property and was concerned about the impact on Bluff Park Elementary.

TRACE CROSSINGS VILLAGE CENTER

In Trace Crossings, the council approved Signature Homes’ request to revise plans for a new 53-acre “Village Center” across Stadium Trace Parkway from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

The Hoover City Council in June 2017 rezoned the land for “planned commercial” use, but with provisions that allow for up to 74 residential units mixed in with commercial development.

Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said his company is buying the property from U.S. Steel and wants to separate the commercial area from the residential area and increase the number of homes on this particular tract from 74 to 118.

The extra 44 houses will be pulled from a town house community that U.S. Steel once had planned for an undeveloped area across from the Creekside sector off Brock’s Gap Parkway, Belcher said.

He thinks it’s better to move those homes off Brock’s Gap Parkway and put them off Stadium Trace Parkway instead, he said.

It likely will be a year before the homes start hitting the market, Belcher said. The houses will have two or three bedrooms, and the lots will range from 37 feet wide to 80 feet wide, records show. Prices should start in the low-to-mid $300,000s, but some of the homes likely will be priced in the $400,000s or more than $500,000, he said.

Some residents of Signature Homes’ Abingdon subdivision next to the Village Center previously expressed concern about drivers using the Village Center and Abingdon as a cut-through to Bumpus Middle School, so Belcher agreed that an access road to Brock’s Gap Parkway would be only for emergency vehicles via a gate.

The Village Center residential community will have a clubhouse and central park, but Belcher eliminated plans for a pool due because residents in the Chestnut Ridge community were concerned about noise.

Belcher said Signature Homes will maintain the already agreed upon buffer between the Village Center and Chestnut Ridge, as well as restrictions for the types of businesses that would be allowed.

Prohibited businesses include freestanding fast-food restaurants, auto dealerships, building material sales, domestic equipment rental, car wash or automotive services, and a hospital (though a freestanding emergency department will be allowed). Also, nothing more than four stories will be allowed. Belcher said he envisions the commercial sector looking similar to the commercial sector in Ross Bridge.

The council’s vote to approve the amended plan for the Village Center was unanimous.

In other business Monday, the City Council:

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