Hoover zoning board recommends approval for Bluff Park classroom addition

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night recommended the City Council approve a 10-classroom addition for Bluff Park Elementary School.

The single-story addition would be located at the front of the school along Park Avenue, right next to the entrance to the school.

Phil Black of B Group Architecture, which is designing the addition, said the school is at 95% capacity and needs additional space.

Bluff Park Elementary School Principal Ami Weems said in January, when B Group Architecture was hired, that classrooms at the school are not overwhelmed and that the school has been able to maintain student-teacher ratios that are in line with other Hoover elementary schools. However, keeping those ratios as low as possible is something that has always been important for Hoover City Schools, she said.

As new homes are being built in the area and many families with young children continue moving into Bluff Park, the school — already with slightly more than 600 students — is expected to grow, Weems said.

Superintendent Dee Fowler said the potential future redrawing of school attendance zones likely would increase the student population at Bluff Park Elementary as well.

Weems said some of the support staff at Bluff Park already are sharing space and could benefit greatly from having their own spaces for instruction. Some of the staff members who share space include English as a Second Language teachers, occupational therapists, academic coaches and interventionists, she said.

Matt Wilson, director of operations for the school system, said in January the plan is to get the addition built and opened by the fall of 2023. The Hoover City Council is expected to consider the request for the addition in June.

In other business Monday night, the zoning board:

• Approved preliminary plans for the second phase of the Everlee community being built between Ross Bridge and Lake Cyrus. Signature Homes plans to have 116 homes in the second phase.

• Approved preliminary plans for four commercial buildings with about 27,000 square feet combined to be built on about 4.5 acres along U.S. 280 across from the Walmart Supercenter. Developer Allen Hawkins has submitted plans that show space for six commercial tenants in the four buildings, but Hawkins said he was not yet ready to disclose the names of the tenants. The commercial development is being called Cahaba Pointe.

• Recommended the City Council approve a request from the Pizza Hut at 2312 John Hawkins Parkway to add a pickup window on the southeast side of the building, with the condition that no outdoor speaker or microphone system be allowed.
• Recommended the City Council approve a request from Lake Crest Presbyterian Church to relocate into Suite 320 of Chase Commerce Park office building at 3829 Lorna Road, with the condition that no more than 99 people be allowed in the church space and that no more than 12 people be allowed to meet there during business hours. Pastor Thomas Joseph said in a letter that the church currently has about 35 members and expects Sunday morning services to have 25 to 35 people in attendance with eight to 15 vehicles. Wednesday and Sunday night meetings typically involve eight to 15 people, he wrote. The church is seeking to locate in the building closest to Riverchase Drive.

The zoning board was scheduled to consider a request from American Pet Resorts to build a 15,000-square-foot Pet Paradise facility that can board up to 175 dogs on a 2-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Stadium Trace Parkway and Brock’s Gap Parkway. However, that case was continued until June 13 at the request of American Pet Resorts.

The zoning board also postponed consideration of preliminary plans for a six-lot single-family subdivision at 2560 Woodmeadow Lane until June 13.