Shelby County woman asks Hoover to annex 6.5 acres off Valleydale Road
A Shelby County woman is asking the city of Hoover to annex 6.5 acres off Valleydale Road next to Jefferson State Community College’s Shelby-Hoover campus so a convenience store and small strip shopping center can go there.
The property at one time had a mobile home park on it, Hoover planning consultant Bob House said. It now has one house, a couple of storage buildings, a mobile home and a barn, said Todd Thompson, an engineer representing property owner Shelia Vaughn.
The plan is to demolish the house to make way for the commercial development, Thompson said.
The property is currently zoned as an agricultural district in unincorporated Shelby County, and Vaughn is asking Hoover to zone it as a C-2 community business district before the City Council casts a final vote on her annexation request.
The state Legislature five to 10 years ago changed the law to allow cities to zone property prior to annexation to give more certainty about land use prior to the annexation taking place, House said.
The property is at 4670 Valleydale Road, on the north side of the road and across the street from the North Shelby Fire Station No. 1, Thompson said. There is a retail shop to the east (zoned as a Shelby County B-2 business district) and Jefferson State Community College to the north and west (zoned for office and institutional use in Hoover), he said.
The plan is to put a street between the convenience store and small strip shopping center to provide one access onto Valleydale Road, Thompson said. That road could be a cul-de-sac, or it could connect to the college campus, if the college and land developer come to an agreement, he said.
House said it would be ideal for the road to connect to the college campus and also allow the college to build a connector road from the east side of its property to the west side. It also would be ideal if the strip shopping center contained businesses that complement a college campus, he said.
The convenience store is expected to generate 172 vehicle trips in the morning and 160 vehicle trips in the afternoon, while the small shopping center should generate 65 vehicle trips in the morning and 55 trips in the afternoon, Thompson said.
He doesn’t believe the development would warrant a new traffic signal, he said. However, there likely will need to be a left-turn lane for eastbound traffic on Valleydale Road and a deceleration right-turn lane for westbound traffic on Valleydale, and the developer of the property is willing to provide that, Thompson said.
The developer would leave enough land for the planned widening of Valleydale Road in that area, he said.
The plan is to develop the property tastefully, modeling the convenience store after the Greystone Shell gasoline station, according to the person who wants to operate the convenience store there.
The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Dec. 12 recommended approval for the rezoning, and the Hoover City Council is scheduled to consider the rezoning case at its Jan. 17 meeting.
The City Council’s Annexation Committee on Dec. 19 recommended approval of the annexation, which will go to the full City Council for a final vote after the rezoning request is heard.