Montessori Kids Universe day care proposed for Alford Avenue

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Sketch provided by city of Hoover

Montessori Kids Universe 1

Jason and Kimberly McDougall want to renovate the University of Tots building at 1325 Alford Avenue in Hoover, Alabama, and turn it into a Montessori Kids Universe day care and are seeking to rezone part of the property to accommodate their plans. This is a sketch of what the facility likely will look like if renovated, as presented to the city.

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Photo provided by city of Hoover

University of Tots

This is the University of Tots location at 1325 Alford Avenue in Hoover, Alabama.

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Map provided by city of Hoover

Montessori Kids Universe map

Jason and Kimberly McDougall want to renovate the University of Tots building at 1325 Alford Avenue in Hoover, Alabama, and turn it into a Montessori Kids Universe day care and are seeking to rezone part of the property to accommodate their plans. The McDougalls are trying to combine the day care property with an adjacent single-famly home so they can use both buildings for the day care.

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The owners of the Montessori Kids Universe day care in Homewood are trying to get property on Alford Avenue in Hoover rezoned to allow for a second location.

Jason and Kimberly McDougall are in the process of trying to purchase the University of Tots day care at 1325 Alford Ave. and an adjacent single-family home at 1331 Alford Ave.

They are planning a major renovation of the buildings and property to accommodate a new Montessori Kids Universe for Hoover.

The University of Tots is in a 7,600-square-foot building on a .75-acre parcel, and the single-family home has 2,500 square feet on a 1.25-acre parcel, Hoover city planner Mac Martin said.

The McDougalls are asking the city of Hoover for permission to have the two parcels combined into one and to extend the current zoning for the University of Tots day care to the lot that has the single-family home as well, Martin said.

Kimberly McDougall said their plan includes a significant renovation to the University of Tots building as well as a new high-quality playground, splash pad, butterfly garden and other gardens.

“We want it to be very green and appealing to the neighborhood,” McDougall said.

The plan also includes an expansion of the parking area, but that is mostly for special events such as kindergarten graduation more so than day-to-day use, she said.

The dropoff of children will take place over three hours in the morning, and pickup will be spread over four hours, so they do not expect a significant impact on traffic on Alford Avenue, McDougall said.

The building now being used as a single-family house would be renovated for use as a possible music building, library and office, she said.

The University of Tots is licensed to handle up to 155 children but only has about 30 or so children right now, Martin said. McDougall said she and her husband plan to have no more than 120 to 135 students.

The University of Tots property is zoned for multi-family use, but that’s a little bit of misnomer, Martin said. It is zoned that way because, currently, the only zoning possibilities for a day care in the city of Hoover are to have a commercial zoning or operate as a “conditional use” in a multi-family zone, he said.

The McDougalls are seeking to extend that multi-family zoning to the entire 2 acres, with the condition that the property only be operated as a day care, Martin said.

The request was presented to the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission Monday night but was continued after city officials learned someone was still living in the single-family home as a renter and believed he would be able to stay there on a month-to-month basis as long as he wanted, Martin said.

If the property is rezoned for multi-family use, he could no longer live there, Martin said. The planning commission agreed to continue the case until July 13 to give the parties involved time to address the issue.

In other business Monday night, the planning commission approved final plans for 68 residential lots in Phase 6B of the Lake Wilborn community.