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Hoover zoning board recommends council OK Hare Farm as event venue

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Photo from Hare Farm website

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night recommended the Hoover City Council rezone the Hare Farm in Bluff Park from an R-1 residential zone to a planned residential district to be used primarily as an event venue.

David and Teresa Hare purchased nearly 9 acres of the former Smith Farm at 613 Sanders Road and 2421 Savoy St. in 2019 with hopes of preserving the picturesque farm scenery.

Their plan is to use the property, which currently includes a house, barn, pond, expansive grassy areas and some trees, for public events such as the Bluff Park Christmas Fair, a seasonal pumpkin patch and marketplace events, as well as private events such as weddings, corporate parties and birthday parties, Hare told the zoning board.

Hare said the barn will be a key part of the venue, but he also plans to build an open-air pavilion, 20-by-40-foot meeting room and walking trail on the site as well. Eventually, he may want to build himself a new home on the property as well, and that’s one reason he wanted the planned residential district zoning, he said.

Master plan provided by city of Hoover

He also may one day seek to build additional homes, but the zoning plan recommended by the zoning board Monday night would limit the property to two residences. Hare said what he has in mind is roughly 1,200-square-foot homes and said the planned residential district zoning would allow up to four houses per acre. It could be difficult to provide all the required amenities for additional homes, such as an entrance road and septic system, but he still is considering it, he said.

If he decides to go that route, he would have to come back to the city to seek approval to amend the master plan for the site to allow additional homes.

The current master plan includes a paved parking area for 68 vehicles, plus overflow parking areas on pervious surfaces such as gravel or grass. One condition for the rezoning is that Hare come up with an overflow parking plan that meets the satisfaction of the city engineer.

Hare said he is trying to limit the amount of pavement on the property so as to maintain the natural beauty of the farm.

The city’s engineering staff said 68 parking spaces should be enough to accommodate most of the events Hare proposes to have on the property and they, too, would like to limit the amount of impervious surfaces on the property so more rainwater seeps into the ground instead of flowing off site.

The zoning board also recommended the City council approve a “conditional use” plan that includes limitations on outdoor music. Any amplified outdoor music would have to end by 9 p.m., and all outdoor music would have to end by 10 p.m.

Richard Caudle, a traffic engineer hired by Hare, indicated in a letter that Hare’s facility likely would generate an increase of 150 vehicles a day on a typical weekday or 300 vehicles per hour on a Saturday but would not result in any capacity deficiency on Sanders Road or Savoy Street.

“This would probably represent less than a 10% increase in traffic on a typical weekday but could represent a 30% increase in traffic on a Saturday,” Caudle wrote. “Once again, this increase in traffic, particularly on a Saturday, is likely to be highly objectional to the residents on Sanders Road and Savoy Street.”

No one spoke against Hare’s request at Monday night’s zoning board meeting.

City Administrator Allan Rice, a member of the zoning board, said he appreciates that Hare — if he wanted — could have tried to develop the farm into a lot more residential home sites, but he instead was seeking to preserve the natural beauty of the property and do something special with it.

Hare said he appreciated that comment. “Let’s all enjoy it,” he said. “That’s what I want.”

The zoning requests now go to the Hoover City Council for final approval.

In other business Monday night, the zoning board:

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