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Hoover zoning board recommends plans for Hindu temple, Bluff Park and Trace Crossings subdivisions

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Photo by Erin Nelson

Landscape plan provided by city

Floor plan provided by city of H

Photo by Jon Anderson

Layout provided by city of Hoove

Photo by Jon Anderson

Photo by Jon Anderson

Tree conservation plan provided

Photo by Jon Anderson

Map provided by city of Hoover

Site plan provided by city of Ho

Design concept by Barrett Archit

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night recommended approval for a Hindu temple in the former AMC discount theater off Lorna Road. as well as a 44-home subdivision in Bluff Park and a revised plan for the Trace Crossings Village Center.

All three of the proposals now go to the Hoover City Council for final approval.

The AMC Classic Lorna Ridge 10 movie theater, which closed permanently, is now proposed to be turned into a Hindu temple.

The 38,000-square-foot theater, which was built in 1983, is wanted for use by a Hindu congregation in Roebuck, city planner Mac Martin said.

The congregation has been in the Birmingham area since 1980 and is part of a religious organization that has been around since 1907, said Richard Deaver, who represented the congregation Monday night.

There are 91 similar Hindu temples across the United States, Deaver said. This congregation has services on Sundays and typically has 250 to 300 people at each service, he said.

The plan is to leave the exterior shell of the theater pretty much the same and renovate the interior to include a main worship area for up to 400 people, at least 14 classrooms, a kitchen, dining area, two play areas, lobby, prayer hall and a priest’s room with three bedrooms attached, according to a drawing submitted to the city.

Floor plan provided by city of H

The 280 parking spaces on the site are about double what is required for a facility of this size, according to the application.

Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice, a member of the planning commission, said he’s very excited to see a potential tenant for the theater.

Since the property has been vacant, there have been a lot of complaints about large trucks using the parking lot for overnight and extended parking, and some people have started using the property as a dump site for unwanted furniture and belongings, Rice said.

“It’s an old building,” Rice said. “It needs somebody in it, loving on it, taking care of it and keeping it clean for the neighborhood.”

Urmish Patel, a member of a Hindu congregation, said once his congregation takes over the site, they would make sure the facility is clean and work with the city to deter overnight or extended parking by trucks in the parking lot.

Rice said a group in the most recent class of Leadership Hoover has developed a proposal to make the Lorna Road corridor an international district for the city of Hoover.

There are a lot of international restaurants in that area, and he thinks this temple would enhance that concept and help turn Lorna Road into something the city celebrates and even markets to draw more businesses and facilities with an international flavor, he said.

Councilman Mike Shaw, another member of the planning commission, said he hopes the Hindu temple would have a domino effect and spur other redevelopment in that corridor.

“It’s sorely needed,” Shaw said. “I’m excited to see what will happen in that spot.”

BLUFF PARK SUBDIVISION

The new subdivision proposed for Bluff Park is essentially the same one the City Council rejected unanimously in March, only with three fewer houses.

The council on March 16 voted against rezoning 7.6 acres of a 23-acre parcel that was part of the old Smith farm in Bluff Park to make way for 47 new houses. But developer Lance Kitchens decided to take another stab at getting the rezoning approved with 44 houses after waiting the required six months before the matter could be brought back to the council for another vote.

Charlie Beavers, an attorney representing Kitchens, told the zoning board that Kitchens, with the current zoning on the 23 acres and another 2.5 acres he owns, could get 43 houses on the entire property if he divided up the 2.5 acres that now contains a single large home.

However, Kitchens would rather leave the large home and 2.5-acre parcel next to another undeveloped parcel intact and build all the new homes on the other 23 acres in a more synchronized fashion.

To do so, he is asking the city to rezone 5.7 acres from an agricultural district to an R-1 single-family residential district with lots of at least 15,000 square feet and rezone 1.9 acres on the eastern side of the property from an agricultural district to an E-2 estate district with lots of at least 20,000 square feet.

Land immediately to the north, west and south already is zoned R-1, and land to the east is zoned E-2.

Photo by Jon Anderson

Beavers said Kitchens’ rezoning plan would allow for a good transition between the remaining undeveloped part of the Smith farm to the west, bought by someone else, and the E-2 zoning along Bonnie Brook Drive to the east.

Bluff Park resident Robin Schultz argued that Bluff Park residents spoke strongly against the rezoning plan earlier this year. Residents expressed concerns about increased traffic and adding more children to Hoover schools, particularly Bluff Park Elementary.

The question is about the best zoning for the land, and there are pockets of agricultural land all over Bluff Park, Schultz said. Kitchens can build houses on the land as it is, he said.

Beavers said a traffic study done by Skipper Consulting indicated that existing roads in the area were adequate to handle traffic from another 50 houses, and City Engineer Chris Reeves said he agreed with those findings.

Also, these houses will be priced between $650,000 to $750,000 — a price range that likely will not attract many families with young children, Beavers said.

The zoning board voted 8-0 in favor of Kitchens’ request, so now it will once again be up to the council.

TRACE CROSSINGS VILLAGE CENTER

In Trace Crossings, the zoning board recommended approval for Signature Homes’ request to revise plans for a new 53-acre “Village Center” across Stadium Trace Parkway from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

The Hoover City Council in June 2017 rezoned the land for “planned commercial” use, but with provisions that allow for up to 74 residential units mixed in with commercial development.

Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said his company will buy the property from U.S. Steel and wants to separate the commercial area from the residential area and increase the number of homes on this particular tract from 74 to 118.

Photo by Jon Anderson

The extra 44 houses would be pulled from a town house community that U.S. Steel once had planned for an undeveloped area across from the Creekside sector off Brock’s Gap Parkway, Belcher said.

He thinks it’s better to move those homes off Brock’s Gap Parkway and put them off Stadium Trace Parkway instead, he said.

If the council approves the revised plan, it likely would be a year before the homes start hitting the market, Belcher said. The houses would have two or three bedrooms, and the lots would range from 37 feet wide to 80 feet wide, records show. Prices should start in the low-to-mid $300,000s, but some of the homes would be priced in the $400,000s or more than $500,000, he said.

When Belcher first presented his plan in August, Planning Commission Chairman Mike Wood said he was concerned whether there was enough parking because of how tightly the homes would be built.

Belcher said each home would have a two-vehicle garage, plus space for two more vehicles in a driveway. Additionally, there would be 49 parking spaces on streets, and residents would be allowed to use the parking lot in the commercial center as overflow, he said.

To discourage drivers from using the Village Center and adjoining Abingdon community as a cut-through to Bumpus Middle School, an access road to Brock’s Gap Parkway would be only for emergency vehicles via a gate, Belcher said.

The Village Center residential community would have a clubhouse and central park, but Belcher eliminated plans for a pool due to concerns about noise from residents in the Chestnut Ridge community.

Belcher said Signature Homes would maintain the already agreed upon buffer between the Village Center and Chestnut Ridge, as well as restrictions for the types of businesses that would be allowed.

Prohibited businesses would include freestanding fast-food restaurants, auto dealerships, building material sales, domestic equipment rental, car wash or automotive services, and a hospital (though a freestanding emergency department would be allowed). Also, nothing more than four stories would be allowed. Belcher said he envisions the commercial sector looking similar to the commercial sector in Ross Bridge.

TOWN HOUSE DEVELOPMENT

The planning commission also on Monday heard a request from Keith Arendall of LAH Commercial Real Estate to rezone 1.4 acres at 2133 Lynngate Drive from a preferred commercial office district to a town house district to accommodate nine town houses.

Numerous neighbors from the adjacent Lynngate and Talheim communities objected to the idea, saying other nearby town houses and apartments have created problems for their communities, including unsightly trash and multiple cars parking on both sides of the road, creating hazardous traffic flow.

Map provided by city of Hoover

Arendall said his company doesn’t own any of those other properties and thinks his development will be an asset to the neighborhood. He is modeling it after a successful town house development on Montevallo Road and has a target market of homes priced from $250,000 to $275,000, he said.

“We’re not trying to hurt the neighborhood,” Arendall said. “We want a nice project that will sell. I think the neighborhood would be very proud of what we build.”

At the suggestion of Wood, Arendall asked the commission to continue his case until Oct. 12 and give him time to meet with residents to discuss his plans and their concerns.

In other business, the commission:

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