Hoover needs to promote the arts, protect green spaces and slow down growth, residents say
Planning for the arts, protecting green spaces and slowing down growth are important needs for the future of Hoover, residents told city officials tonight in a meeting in Bluff Park.
About 100 people showed up at Shades Crest Baptist Church for the second of three public input meetings to help the city develop a comprehensive plan.
A woman who identified herself as a member of the Bluff Park Art Association board of directors since 1978 said that, in the past, Bluff Park has always been considered an art-friendly community. But now she’s beginning to wonder if that is still true, she said.
The school system made artists move out of the Artists on the Bluff building in Bluff Park due to the condition of the building, and the city has condemned the Bluff Park Community Center that has been the hub for the Bluff Park Art Show with no apparent plans to replace it, she said.
The city is lacking for an auditorium, performing arts center and art museum, she said.
“We have great sports facilities, and that’s wonderful. We need them,” the woman said. But “I’m just concerned that Hoover is not very art-friendly.”
Bluff Park resident Heather Skaggs said Hoover already has lost the former Berry High School to Vestavia Hills. “We don’t need to lose that one down the street,” she said, referring to the historic Bluff Park School building next to the current Bluff Park Elementary.
Larry Parks, a resident of Bluff Park since 1972 said he had three children who went through Bluff Park School and said it’s not just a building. “”It’s a feeling of pride among the people that have been there or their children have been there,” he said. The city of Hoover has the resources to keep public facilities in working order, another man said.
Protecting green spaces
Numerous people said one of the reasons they moved to Hoover was the natural beauty of the area, citing the Cahaba River, 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve nature park and the tree-covered hills and valleys. But some said they are concerned about losing that because of over-development.
Larry Roddick of the Friends of Shades Mountain said people have to start protecting green spaces like Shades Mountain.
“If we don’t protect it, it’ll be gone,” he said. “You’re going to lose that air quality. You’re going to lose that water quality.”
Matthew Hardeman, another Bluff Park resident, noted that Hoover is gaining about 2,000 new residents every year due to housing construction, yet one of the most common complaints is how awful the traffic is.
“Maybe we don’t encourage 2,000 people to come next year until we have the traffic under control,” Hardeman said.
Hoover resident Denis Tanner said he was surprised to see how much land could still be developed in Hoover and asked if there is a way to rezone some of that land.
City Planner Mac Martin said the comprehensive plan being developed should help give the city guidance about whether land uses being proposed for undeveloped land don’t go along with goals of the city of Hoover or may hurt the city.
Responsible growth
Kate Graham, a resident of Bluff Park for 10 years, said she’s concerned about making sure the city sees responsible growth.
Hoover has fabulous elementary schools, but she doesn’t see the same excitement among her friends and neighbors about Hoover High School because it is so big, she said. She wants to know when a third high school is going to built, she said.
She also believes there are a lot of young professional couples with children in Bluff Park and that the retail options in Bluff Park are not living up to their potential.
Hardeman questioned why the city keeps approving new shopping centers when there are big holes and vacancies in existing shopping centers.
Jason Fondren, a representative of the KPS Group consulting firm that is helping the city with its comprehensive plan, said property owners have rights to develop their property and sometimes there is not much the city can do to stop them.
Another man noted that the city doesn’t have to give the developers of the new shopping centers tax breaks like the city has been doing.
One audience member said Hoover needs to pay attention to what Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills and Homewood are doing to control growth.
Bluff Park resident Georgia Pearson said she is concerned about people wanting to prevent more apartments and housing for lower-income people from being built in Hoover. She appreciates the diversity in Hoover and doesn’t want to see that go away, she said.
There are ways to require developers to provide a mix of housing to serve low-income, moderate-income and high-income households and maintain that diversity, she said.
Another woman who has lived in Hoover since 1975 echoed that appreciation for diversity. “It’s such a cross-section of people that you get a real sense of what the world is like,” she said. Kids don’t grow up in a little protected group of people but are exposed to people from different walks of life, she said.
Residents and business owners at tonight's meeting shared many more thoughts about why they like living in Hoover and ways to make it a better place to live.
A third public input meeting for the comprehensive plan is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the Hoover Municipal Center at 100 Municipal Lane. City officials also are encouraging people to fill out a survey about their views on the city and their desires for its future at futurehoover.com.
Input from the public meetings and survey will be combined to help a create a draft version of the comprehensive plan, Fondren said. The draft will be submitted to the public for community review in June, tweaked in July and sent to the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council for review and adoption in August and September, he said.