Hoover to flesh out ideas for comprehensive development plan with public workshops this week

The city of Hoover is holding two public workshops this week to help flesh out ideas for the city’s comprehensive development plan.

The first is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, at 6 p.m. at the Hoover Municipal Center. During that meeting, city officials plan to share a synopsis of what they learned from three public input meetings held in January and February and a survey conducted online, City Planner Mac Martin said.

Officials also plan to conduct a question-and-answer session to dig deeper on some of the development concepts that people proposed in earlier meetings, he said.

Then on Thursday, March 22, the city is holding an “open house” for people to have one-on-one conversations with the planning team and planning consultants at 6 p.m.

At Thursday’s meeting, planners will present maps and illustrations of three areas of Hoover that have strong potential for redevelopment, Martin said. That includes the area around the Riverchase Galleria, the area around the intersection of Lorna Road and Rocky Ridge Road and the U.S. 280 corridor that goes through Hoover, he said.

“We want to get a little more meat on the bones” before the planning team goes to work developing the first draft of the comprehensive plan, he said.

That draft will be put out for public comment before it goes to the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission for consideration in a couple of months, Martin said.