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Hoover zoning board approves rezoning for 35-home subdivision in Bluff Park

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Courtesy of Robert P. Kirk & Associates.

Map provided by city of Hoover

A request to rezone property along Alford Avenue in Bluff Park tonight received approval from the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission.

The request was submitted to rezone two parcels, totaling 8.96 acres, from an agricultural district to a Planned Residential Development district in order to accommodate 35 single-family homes.

Joey Miller, a civil engineer representing the property owner, said the lots would be 75 feet wide and homes would be between 2,500 and 2,800 square feet, almost double the city’s required minimum size of 1,500 square feet for that zoning classification.

Two years ago, the property owners proposed a plan to put a Walmart Neighborhood Market on the property in question, which is located near the corner of Alford Avenue and Tyler Road. However, they later withdrew the request after much opposition from the community.

The land is surrounded by Bluff Park United Methodist Church and St. Luke Korean Catholic Church, estate zoning, townhomes, agricultural zoning and the Bluff Park Village shopping center.

Miller said the single-family houses around Bluff Park Village and the townhomes across the street are both denser than the proposed development.

“There are some single-family, large residential lots that are kind of caddy-corner across the street, but it’s kind of a mixed area right there,” he said. “To me this is a very good transitional zoning because we’re backing up to the church and to a commercial shopping center, so to me it’s a good use of the property.”

Hoover resident Steve Ledger, who lives off of Shades Crest Road near the development, told the commission he believes the proposed development was too dense for what he described as a “mature, historic neighborhood.” The development could put a further strain on resources, including Bluff Park Elementary and the single-lane ingress and egress roads in that residential area, Ledger said.

Miller previously said the proposed development is expected to generate 140 vehicle trips per day.

Allowing a dense development could set a poor precedent for infill development, Ledger added.

“If Hoover Country Club, of which I’m a member, were to go bankrupt, as many golf clubs are doing these days such as Altadena, how would we look at the development there? If we took this precedent, can we imagine how many home sites would be built there?,” Ledger said.

Sid Lassiter, a resident of the Tyler Crest Townhomes across the street from the proposed development, said while they did not oppose the development, he and other residents had concerns. Their main concerns included stormwater runoff and maintaining a “reasonably safe” access to the townhomes, Lassiter said.

A gully behind the townhomes fills in current storms, he said, and residents worry it will overflow with excess runoff. Lassiter added, however, that the developer said they would help clean out the gully to prevent it overflowing. Miller said there would also be a retention pond at the new development to prevent excess runoff to other properties.

Because many people were upset at the proposed Walmart development, Lassiter said he saw the proposed subdivision as the best alternative for the land. In regard to density issues, Lassiter said the area was already dense, and the subdivision would not change that.

“It is what it is already, is what I’m trying to say,” he said. “The die has already been cast.”

The planning commission unanimously approved the rezoning request, and it now goes to the Hoover City Council for consideration.

Also at the meeting, the commission:

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