Signature Homes proposes 5.5-acre park in Lake Wilborn

Signature Homes is proposing a 5.5-acre community park to be part of the Lake Wilborn community.

The park would be in the second phase of Lake Wilborn and include a wiffle ball field, basketball court, farmers market, community garden, four cornhole courts, playground, grilling and picnic area, and a stage and movie screen area that overlooks an open lawn.

There also would be an observation tower and pavilion, hammock hangout and slacklining area, and a walking path around the entire park, Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said.

The park would cover an area that is about the size of four football fields, Belcher said.

Signature Homes constructed a wiffle ball field at Ross Bridge that was very popular about two years ago, so they decided to include one in the design for Lake Wilborn, Belcher said.

The basketball court could be converted into three pickleball courts if desired, he said. Also, if residents end up not using the community garden site, the homeowners association can put annuals there, he said.

The farmers market would have 18 covered spaces, each 10 feet by 20 feet, Belcher said. The parking lot would have about 80 spaces, he said.

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission approved plans for the park at the commission’s Sept. 11 meeting. The plans now go to the Hoover City Council for consideration on Oct. 16.

If the City Council approves the plans, Belcher said he hopes to have the park built by next summer so that as residents begin moving into Lake Wilborn, the park can be ready for them.

In other business on Oct. 16, the Hoover City Council is expected to consider a request to allow gasoline sales at the rebuilt site of the Circle K convenience store at 2157 Valleydale Road near Southlake.

Gasoline has been sold at that location since 1978, but Circle K razed the existing building and rebuilt a new store there, said Chris Motes, a representative for Circle K who is based in Pensacola.

Circle K has about 60 stores in the greater Birmingham area, including about six in Hoover, Motes said. The company plans to raze and rebuild three to five of those stores in the next two to five years, he said.

The City Council also will consider an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance that would reduce the minimum acreage required for a Planned Unit Development, frequently called a PUD.

The city currently requires PUDs to be at least 75 acres, but city planner Mac Martin said the city is running out of sites that large. Allowing a developer to create a PUD on smaller sites would allow for more creative designs on smaller tracts and areas that need redevelopment, Martin said. PUDs give developers more flexibility in their designs.

The proposed amendment would allow PUDs on 25 acres when combining office and commercial development with single-family detached homes, 10 acres when combining office and commercial uses with townhouses, and 5 acres when building a mixed-use village center with office and commercial uses on the ground level and residential living on upper floors. Seventy-five acres still would be required for PUDs with industrial and multi-family uses and PUDs that are strictly single-family detached homes.