Public hearing set this Thursday for Hoover comprehensive plan

Hoover residents, business owners and others have a chance to provide more input on the city’s proposed comprehensive plan this Thursday night at a public hearing scheduled by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

The plan, which has been in the development stage for more than a year, calls for the city to transform itself from a suburban, sprawling bedroom community with a strong retail base into more of an urban center that promotes denser development of the city center and a diversified economy.

It includes conceptual recommendations for dramatic changes to the Riverchase Galleria, Meadowbrook Corporate Park and older parts of Hoover along U.S. 31 and Lorna Road, as well as other areas.

In community meetings and surveys, Hoover residents said they enjoy great amenities and city services, but identified numerous challenges they must address for the city to reach its full potential.

Among those challenges were increased traffic, stresses on the city school system, declining older parts of the city, threats to city revenue streams, the lack of a clear identity and the need for a comprehensive growth strategy.

Like many suburban communities in the United States, Hoover has grown mostly with sprawling new subdivisions with single-family detached homes and strip shopping centers with large parking lots on major commercial corridors, highly dependent on people driving individual vehicles from place to place.

SHIFT IN STRATEGY

But the comprehensive plan developed by Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato’s administration, with much input from the community, calls for a shift in development strategy.

The plan seeks to preserve existing neighborhoods, but wants to restrain growth on the outer edges of the city limits. People are concerned that outward growth has put a strain on city services and schools, so city leaders are proposing to restrict development on the outskirts to larger estate residential lots and to preserve open spaces there.

Instead, the focus would be on redeveloping older areas of town that are showing their age and allowing in-fill development in areas that previously were passed over but closer to the heart of the city, City Planner Mac Martin said.

That way, the city can more efficiently provide city services, such as police and fire protection and other amenities, instead of having to spread those services out over greater distances and further burden city coffers, Martin said.

Some of those vacant pockets include land on the south side of Interstate 459 between the Patton Creek shopping center and Preserve Parkway, land near the intersection of I-459 and Alabama 150, and commercial land along Alabama 119, Martin said.

There also are pockets of unincorporated land along I-459 and Alabama 150 that are deemed desirable for annexation due to their potential use as employment and mixed-use centers, he said.

Potential redevelopment areas include Meadowbrook Corporate Park and older shopping centers and apartment complexes along U.S. 31 and Lorna Road, all of which would be targeted as new “town centers” with much more densely-developed multi-story mixed-use buildings similar to the SoHo development in downtown Homewood.

The idea is to eliminate the sprawling parking lots in favor of parking decks and replace strip centers with walkable mixed-use centers that put homes in close proximity to retail, office and entertainment offerings, Martin said.

The Riverchase Galleria, in particular, is targeted for significant redevelopment as Hoover’s downtown “city center.” It would have a new “main street” look around the mall, with multi-story buildings right up against both sides of the road, as you might see in a traditional urban downtown.

The 188-page comprehensive plan covers a multitude of other topics, including potential road improvements, public transit, protection of natural resources, public safety, library services, arts and culture, parks and recreation, health and wellness, the creation of special districts, and economic development.

PLAN DEVELOPMENT

City leaders for more than a year have been working to develop the plan to give the city direction over the next 20 years. Martin unveiled a draft of the plan at the Hoover Municipal Center on Oct. 4 and went over it again in meetings at Bluff Park United Methodist Church on Oct. 30 and Greystone Elementary School on Nov. 7.

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission originally scheduled a public hearing on the plan for Nov. 8 but later postponed it to Dec. 6 and then until this Thursday, Jan. 10. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. in the William J. Billingsley Council Chambers at the Hoover Municipal Center at 100 Municipal Lane.

Martin said he will give a brief overview of the plan, much shorter than previous presentations, and allow plenty of time for public comments. The Planning and Zoning Commission is not expected to vote on the plan Thursday, Martin said.

Instead, planning commissioners will take time to consider public comments. Planning commissioners also will have an opportunity to ask questions and recommend any changes they desire to see in the plan. Any vote to consider adoption of the plan likely will come a later date, Martin said.

The Planning and Zoning Commission is the entity set up by state law to adopt comprehensive plans, he said. The plan is not forwarded to the Hoover City Council for final approval, though council members have been encouraged to be involved in the process, he said.

The full plan is available for review at futurehoover.com.