Hoover council rezones 9 acres in Bluff Park to allow 35 new houses

The Hoover City Council tonight voted 4-2 to rezone nine acres in Bluff Park to make way for a 35-house subdivision.

Several residents and Councilman Casey Middlebrooks indicated they wanted to table the request to give the city more time to see if there is a better use for the land, which is vacant property near the corner of Alford Avenue and Tyler Road.

However, the property owners prevailed in asking the council to go ahead and vote.

Bluff Park resident Dan Fulton said he thinks that property should be used for a park, fulfilling a need identified in a city plan from 2003. Other residents said they like an idea to re-create the historic Bluff Park Hotel on that site, saying it would help build on the area’s historic charm.

Patricia Clark, one of the property owners, said she likes the idea of a park, but she’s had the property on the market since 2008 and no one has come forward with an offer to buy the nine acres for a park or a hotel.

Walmart had an interest in putting a Walmart Neighborhood Market and gasoline station on the property two years ago, but residents expressed great opposition to the idea, so the proposal was withdrawn.

Clark said the new proposal for a 35-house subdivision is a solid offer and she is ready to move forward and get the property sold.

Councilman John Lyda said he agreed the property owners deserved to get an up-or-down answer after having their proposal postponed already by the city. Councilmen Mike Shaw, Gene Smith and Curt Posey voted with Lyda to approve the rezoning, while Councilmen Derrick Murphy and Middlebrooks voted against it.

The land had been zoned as an agricultural district but tonight was rezoned to a planned residential development district.

Zac Parrish of Parrish Building Co. previously has said there would be 3.9 homes per acre, and lots would be 75 feet wide at the building line.

Hoover planning consultant Bob House said the lots would be more than 8,000 square feet, which is larger than the Tyler Crest town house lots across the street and similar in size to other houses to the south.

The property is surrounded by Bluff Park United Methodist Church and St. Luke Korean Catholic Church to the west, estate zoning to the north, townhomes and agricultural zoning to the east and Bluff Park Village and R-1 single-family residential zoning to the south.

The proposed development is expected to generate 350 vehicle trips per day once fully built out, which House said is really quite a low volume. He doesn’t expect traffic from this development to be a significant issue, he said.

The subdivision will have an exit onto both Alford Avenue and Tyler Road, and there will be two streets in the subdivision, said Joey Miller, an engineer representing the developer. The two streets will have sidewalks on both sides of the roads, Miller said.

There will be no mass grading, and at least two trees will be planted per lot, Miller said. The developer will save as many existing trees as possible, Miller said. The area at the intersection of Tyler and Alford will be improved with additional landscaping, Parrish said.

In other business tonight, the Hoover City Council:

• Approved a Blue Rain Express Car Wash at the southwest corner of Alabama 119 and Tattersall Drive, which is near U.S. 280. The car wash plan failed to pass the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission due to a 3-3 tie vote in September, but the developer made some changes to the plan, such as changing the color scheme, to quell opposition from Greystone residents.
• Approved a plan to build an Anthony’s Car Wash at 2420 John Hawkins Parkway between the Medical West freestanding emergency department and Alabama Home Health and Hospice building.
• Authorized the mayor to extend the lease for the Hoover police substation at the Bluff Park Village shopping center for another five years. The city will pay $4,300 the first year and a $100 increase each of the following four years, said Tim Westhoven, the city’s chief operations officer.
• Agreed to waive city sales taxes for certain purchases as part of the 2017 Severe Weather Preparedness Tax Holiday on Feb. 24-26.
• Concurred with Mayor Frank Brocato’s appointment of new City Administrator Allan Rice to replace retiring Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate on the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission.
• Appointed Victor Kelley Jr. and Lee Barnes as public defenders for the Hoover Municipal Court, to be paid $4,000 per month from the Fair Trial Tax and Indigent Defense Fund.
• Declared properties at 3256 Mockingbird Lane and 2301 Mountain Oaks Lane as public nuisances due to high weeds and/or grass.
• Approved a budget amendment to pay $135,000 to buy 40 mobile data terminals for Hoover police vehicles, replacing older ones, and to use $15,000 in recovered drug money to pay for a drug use survey for children in Hoover City Schools.
• Declared two pickup trucks, a utility truck bed of a firefighting vehicle and numerous pieces of furniture and appliances as surplus to be sold in an online auction.
• Set a public hearing for Dec. 19 to consider whether to allow a family entertainment center known as Circus Trix to be located at 6009 Tattersall Drive in the Tattersall Park development near the intersection of Alabama 119 and U.S. 280.
• Delayed considering an amendment to the Blackridge development plan that would add 108 acres to the development until Jan. 17.

This article was updated at 11:55 a.m. on Jan. 12 to delete an incorrect statement that Patricia Clark inherited the property in Bluff Park that was rezoned for houses. She bought the property in 2006. However, the owner of another parcel that was part of the rezoning did inherit the property.