Hoover council to vote Monday on rezoning 273 acres of apartment land

The Hoover City Council on Monday night once again is scheduled to consider whether to rezone 273 acres along Interstate 459 from apartment use to mostly commercial use.

The property, located south of I-459 between Preserve Parkway and the Patton Creek shopping center, has been zoned for apartment use since 1984, but the city’s planning consultant said land use patterns have changed and the land is no longer best suited for apartments.

The property owners, including U.S. Steel, have voiced strong opposition to the rezoning and said city officials are trying to usurp their rights as property owners. The Birmingham Association of Realtors is siding with the land owners, saying such a move by the city would breed instability and stymie development in the city of Hoover and metro area as a whole.

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission voted in favor of the rezoning on Feb. 8, but it needs approval by the City Council to take effect. The council previously was scheduled to vote on the rezoning on March 7 but postponed the vote for a month.

Read more about this rezoning case here.

Also on Monday night, the council is scheduled to consider whether to:

• Approve a bid for a 141,000-square-foot metal building that will serve as the indoor event center for the new Hoover Sportsplex planned to be built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium
• Appoint a financial team for the bond issue associated with the Sportsplex
• Authorize the mayor to execute a real estate contract with the Hoover Board of Education for the city to buy 21 acres of land for an entry road to the Sportsplex
• Approve a utility agreement regarding a 1-mile sidewalk along Chapel Road from Park Avenue to Stone Brook Parkway
• Approve utility and construction agreements regarding 1.4 miles of sidewalks on various streets in the Bluff Park community, including Valley Street, Clearview Road, Savoy Street, Cloudland Drive and Tyler Road
• Approve special event licenses to sell alcoholic beverages in the parking lot of the Cajun Steamer at 180 Main Street, Suite 200 for the Spring Into Summer Crawfish Boil on April 16 and in the parking lot at 2080 Valleydale Road for the Ragtime Café 25^th Anniversary Celebration on April 30.
• Grant a franchise to Level 3 Communications to run fiber-optic cable in the city.
• Give approval for Revolve Kitchen & Brew to sell liquor at 611 Doug Baker Boulevard in The Village at Lee Branch