Map provided by city of Hoover
Chapel Farms housing devt 2
The Hoover City Council on Aug. 8, 2017, denied a request to rezone 12 acres off Patton Chapel Road to accommodate about 40 houses for people ages 55 and older.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night voted 5-1 to deny a request to rezone 12 acres on Patton Chapel Road to accommodate a 40-house subdivision for people ages 55 and older.
The D.R. Horton homebuilding company wanted to get the land zoned for the subdivision prior to the land being annexed into the city, but most council members objected to their plan.
Councilman Mike Shaw said that because the council was also being asked to annex the land, the bar was high in terms of what kind of use is acceptable for that property.
Some council members have been reluctant to annex land for more home development, for fear of causing a negative impact on Hoover schools.
Shaw said that even though the developer was promising to create covenants that would prohibit anyone below the age of 18 from living in the neighborhood permanently, he was concerned about the longevity of such an arrangement.
Once all the lots are sold, it could be hard to control who buys houses on the resale market, Shaw said. There are questions about who would enforce the covenants regarding age restrictions, he said.
Plus, Shaw said he was concerned the development doesn’t have enough amenities that cater to senior adults. The other development in Hoover that is restricted to people ages 55 and older, Danberry at Inverness, has many more amenities particular to older adults, he said.
“This was just a very dense, little neighborhood,” Shaw said.
Since the City Council tabled a decision on this matter at its July 17 meeting, D.R. Horton agreed to eliminate two of the original 42 housing lots and build a community clubhouse instead. The development also would have had sidewalks on both side of the streets to allow neighbors to easily connect with one another, D.R. Horton representative Rhett Loveman said.
But that wasn’t enough for the council.
Councilman John Lyda said he just didn’t think this development was in the best interests of the city. Plans for the development kept changing, and he didn’t believe a development of that nature was appropriate in the heart of the city, he said.
John Greene was the only councilman to vote in favor of the zoning change. Councilman Derrick Murphy was absent.
Now that the zoning request has been denied, the 12 acres will remain zoned for agricultural, single-family and commercial use in unincorporated Jefferson County.
The owner of the property, which had a pending sale with D.R. Horton, is the Chapel Farms Holding Co., which is made up of four sisters in the Douglas family who grew up on the property: Amanda Douglas Daily, Alma Douglas Gaudette, Sarah Elizabeth Douglas Martin and Dorothy Douglas Taft.
The sisters also own five acres of land along Old Columbiana Road that the council had agreed to rezone for commercial use, if the property were later annexed into the city.
However, now that the residential part of the plan has been denied, the sisters withdrew their request for annexation for any of the property.
Flash flooding problems
In other business Monday night, the City Council continued decisions on whether to spend $101,000 to repair drainage problems on four pieces of private property and authorize city workers to remove a tree contributing to a draining problem on a fifth piece of private property.
City Attorney Phillip Corley said cities normally are not allowed to fix drainage problems on private property. However, the Alabama Supreme Court and Alabama attorney general’s office have held that cities may perform drainage repairs on private property if the council declares the work to have a “public purpose,” Corley said.
The council may make such a declaration if the work being done has a direct benefit for a significant amount of people and not just a remote, theoretical benefit, Corley said. The City Council has the authority to determine that, he said.
Lyda said city officials have no clue how many other drainage problems exist on private property in the city that affect a significant amount of people. He’s concerned that $101,000 is just “the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
It’s better not to take a bite out of the apple until city officials know better the extent of the problems that exist, Lyda said.
Several residents spoke to the council during the public participation part of the agenda, saying they have drainage problems in their neighborhoods as well. Some wanted city assistance to fix the issues.
But Pete Mosley, a resident on Heather Lane, said he’s concerned about the council spending public money to fix drainage problems on private property. There are hundreds of people in the city in the same situation, Mosley said. “You’re talking about a bottomless pit moneywise,” he said.
Five council members voted to continue the drainage issues indefinitely until the council president decides to bring it back up, with only Councilman Casey Middlebrooks opposing the delay.
The council also on Monday:
- Continued a decision on whether to authorize the mayor to lease the Artists on the Bluff facility in Bluff Park from the Hoover Board of Education and, in turn, sublease the building to the Artists on the Bluff group. Several council members said they need more information about repairs and maintenance issues with the building.
- Amended the city’s budget to spend $150,000 to hire the KPS Group to help the city create a comprehensive plan.
- Authorized the mayor to create a community service agreement with a new nonprofit group called Leadership Hoover that will bring community leaders together to tackle important issues in the city.
- Gave consent for the Alabama Department of Transportation to add additional median barriers on Interstate 459 between Interstate 20/59 and U.S. 280.
- Agreed to pay 20 percent of the costs for design work for a new 2.5-mile sidewalk along the south side of John Hawkins Parkway between U.S. 31 and the entrance to Cahaba River Estates. Design work is estimated to cost $300,000, and the entire project is expected to cost $4.3 million. If federal funding is approved, the state would use federal funds to pay 80 percent of the cost, and the city would cover the remaining 20 percent.
