Hoover zoning board votes 6-1 for virtual golf, miniature bowling center

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The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night voted 6-1 in favor of plans for a virtual golf and miniature bowling center in the Trace Crossings community.

Hoover resident Mike Frymark said he wants to open the 4,720-square-foot facility, to be called Tap-Ins, in the new Knox Square commercial center across Stadium Trace Parkway from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Plans submitted to the city show six bays in the facility, and Frymark said two of them would be dedicated for duckpin bowling, which involves shorter than usual bowling bins and smaller than usual bowling balls. He also plans to have shuffleboard tables, a putting green and a common area in the middle that includes a bar with seating for 16 people.

The property is zoned as a planned commercial district, and a “conditional use” approval is required for the alcohol sales.

Frymark said the sport of golf has grown exponentially in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are not a lot of places for people to learn the game or practice in the heat or rain or at night. Also, there are a lot of people in the Trace Crossings area and a need for more entertainment options, he said.

The zoning board recommended the Hoover City Council approve Frymark’s request with the condition that the facility close by 10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and by midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Tap-Ins also would have to serve some type of food in order to get the license to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises.

Hoover City Planner Mac Martin said Frymark would be able to sell prepackaged food but not food that must be cooked on site unless he sought permission for a full-scale commercial kitchen. Frymark said he would like to have some small appliances to warm food, such as toaster ovens, for food such as personal pizzas, but he is still consulting with the Jefferson County Department of Health about his options.

Zoning board member Becky White, who lives in Trace Crossings, was the only board member to vote against Frymark’s proposal.

White said her concern is that nothing would prevent people from using this facility strictly as a bar, and she doesn’t think a location so close to single-family residential homes is appropriate for a bar.

“I’m just concerned that that whole area is getting very entertainment-focused, and we still have lots of residents that that’s their home, that’s their neighborhood, so at what point do we say we’ve got enough entertainment in this area,” White said. “We need to remember that people also live here and don’t want to hear things at 11 o’clock at night because somebody’s been hanging out at the bar and is carrying on.”

That said, if the City Council agrees with the zoning board’s recommendation, White said she hopes the business does well “and I hope he’s a good neighbor.”

Massage therapy school

Meanwhile, a massage therapy school that was seeking permission from the city of Hoover to open in Meadow Brook Corporate Park has withdrawn its request and no longer plans to locate in the park, Martin said.

The American Massage and Bodywork Institute in Vienna, Virginia, initially wanted permission to open a new school in a 4,211-square-foot space in the 500 Building at Meadow Brook Corporate Park, but the institute has changed its plans, Martin told the zoning board Monday night.

Martin did not elaborate on the company’s reason for withdrawing its application.

Blackridge Parkway

The zoning board also approved preliminary plans for two more sections of Blackridge Parkway, which would carry the parkway southward within about 1,000 feet of Shelby County 52 (Morgan Road). There are eventual plans to extend the road all the way to Shelby County 52, but the development company, Signature Homes, has not presented that section for approval yet.

A new traffic study must be done to determine what type of improvements will be needed at the future intersection of Blackridge Parkway and Shelby County 52, including any turn lanes or a potential traffic light, said Bob Easley, an engineer representing Signature Homes.

Signature Homes has hired Skipper Consulting to do that study, Easley said.

Martin said that same study should help determine if and when Blackridge Parkway needs to be widened to four lanes. It currently is being designed as a two-lane road with enough right of way for potential expansion to four lanes in the future, he said.

The city for at least four years has been considering a proposal to build a 4-mile road that would start at Shelby County 52 and go north through Blackridge and a valley between South Shades Crest Road and Stadium Trace Parkway and hook up with South Shades Crest Road near Brock’s Gap Parkway, and then connect with the planned new Interstate 459 interchange and further on with Alabama 150 at Ross Bridge Parkway.

Such a road could become a major corridor for people from Helena and other points south.

The sections of Blackridge Parkway being built now would be part of that bypass road if it is completed as planned.

About 700 linear feet of this new portion of Blackridge Parkway being built is in the city limits of Helena, so Hoover and Helena officials are in talks about the best way to handle that. The zoning board’s approval of preliminary plans were contingent on the understanding that the city councils of both cities must approve an agreement outlining who will control and maintain the road before final road plans are approved.

An important consideration is the belief that there is enough undeveloped land in Helena connecting to Helena’s portion of the road for 60 to 80 homes, Martin said. Helena wants access to Blackridge Parkway in two places, Hoover Assistant City Engineer Blake Miller said.