Hoover zoning board OKs revised plan for PetSuites Resort on Alabama 150

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The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission tonight gave new life to a proposal to build a PetSuites Resort for up to 182 animals on John Hawkins Parkway.

The Hoover City Council in November rejected a previous plan, but the zoning board tonight voted in favor of a revised plan that would remove an outdoor play area for dogs and add more soundproofing to the walls of the pet boarding facility.

The 14,240-square-foot facility is proposed for 2 acres between the CVS at Shades Crest Road and the office building holding a UAB medical clinic.

When the City Council voted the idea down in November, the main objection was that neighbors were concerned about being able to hear barking dogs.

Charlie Beavers, an attorney for PetSuites Resort, told the zoning board that a noise study from a PetSuites Resort in Georgia showed no barking dogs could be heard from outside the facility when the dogs were inside. The dogs were heard when they came outside to play in groups or take restroom breaks, and that noise level was no greater than the ambient noise coming from a nearby four-lane highway, he said.

In Hoover, PetSuites Resort has agreed to keep the dogs inside at all times, Beavers said.

“The outdoor play areas and walking areas and potty break areas would not exist,” Beavers said. “Everything would be handled inside.”

The company also has agreed to use a brick exterior instead of the originally proposed metal walls and build additional soundproofing into the walls, Beavers said.

Because the outdoor play area is being removed, PetSuites also is proposing to move the building about 40 feet closer to John Hawkins Parkway and that much farther away from residents on Pine Rock Lane, said Jon Rasmussen, an engineer with Gonzalez Strength & Associates, representing PetSuites.

The building relocation also will allow the company to add more magnolia trees behind the building, improving the sound and visual buffers for neighbors even more, Rasmussen and Beavers said.

“This will not be a hindrance to the neighborhood, and it will not intrude on anyone’s enjoyment of their yards or their homes because of the way the development is being done,” Beavers said. “We feel like, with the building being as far away as it is and with the landscaping and with this extra soundproofing and the brick, that the neighbors will not hear anything.”

There’s a great demand for this kind of facility in Hoover, and the $3.5 million to $4 million building will be a great improvement from the vacant lot there now and other potential uses that would be allowed under the current zoning, Beavers said. “It should be a positive thing.”

PET WASTE ODORS

Mike Wood, chairman of the zoning board, asked about odors that might come from the facility. Beavers said pet waste would be sprayed with deodorizer and bagged before being brought outside and put in the garbage bin, and the garbage bin would be enclosed and covered with a roof to keep rainwater from getting inside the bin.

Mark Shows, a resident on Pine Rock Lane, said the proposal is getting better but asked that garbage pickup not be done early in the morning or late at night. He also asked that the garbage bin be relocated farther away from neighbors.

Rasmussen said they can’t put the garbage bin in the facility’s front yard.

Wood, who abstained from voting on the matter, said he thought Beavers and Rasmussen had done a good job working with the city and residents to make this a better project. The other six members of the zoning board who were present voted in favor of the proposal. It now goes to the Hoover City Council for consideration.

City Administrator Allan Rice, who sits on the zoning board, noted that Councilman Mike Shaw, another zoning board member, was not present tonight. Rice urged Beavers to stress with council members, before it comes time to vote, how this proposal is substantially different than the proposal council members rejected in November.

Beavers said he would do so and said he also plans to meet with residents on Pine Rock Lane again and fully explain the changes before the matter comes back to the council.

RIVERCHASE SENIOR LIVING FACILITY

In other business tonight, the zoning board recommended the City Council approve a revised site plan for The Crossings at Hoover senior living facility planned at the corner of U.S. 31 and Parkway Lake Drive in Riverchase.

The facility will have 200 beds, including 92 independent living beds, 72 assisted living beds and 36 memory care beds, said Cole Williams, an engineer with Goodwyn Mills & Cawood working with the property owner.

The number of beds is staying the same since it was approved in February of last year, but S&K Investments, the owner of the property, wants to change the layout a little bit, Williams said.

The company wants to eliminate part of the planned single-story part of the complex and slightly expand the four-story part of the complex to reduce the building footprint and allow for smoother traffic flow, he said.

The zoning board also tonight:

  • Approved preliminary plans for 131 residential lots on 33 acres in the sixth phase of the Lake Wilborn subdivision in the Trace Crossings community.
  • Discussed a proposal to require developers to submit final plats 21 days before a vote of the planning commission instead of 14 days in advance.
  • Discussed a proposal to start notifying adjacent property owners of planned urban development proposals 14 days in advance of a public hearing and to begin having two planning commission meetings for PUD proposals, with one meeting set aside for discussion only and the second meeting the following month for a vote. This is because PUD proposals tend to be very complex and planning commissioners have indicated they wanted more time to review and understand them better before voting, City Planner Mac Martin said.
  • Re-elected Mike Wood as chairman and Sammy Harris as vice chairman for 2019.