Map courtesy of Shelby County
A map showing areas of the county where development should be focused
Shelby County is working on a new comprehensive plan for the first time in 18 years.
The Shelby County Commission held a work session before its Jan. 24 meeting, during which Christie Pannell-Hester, the county's manager of planning and community development, shared an overview of where things are and the next steps in the process.
The purpose of the plan is to assist elected officials and county leaders with decision making over the next 15 years based on residents' vision for growth, to prepare for future growth and development, and to provide a set of action-based strategies and policies feasible for implementation.
So far, county officials have received 2,095 responses that included 8,000 comments from the public. Here are some of the survey results:
- Top two strengths of the county: quality of public schools (86%) and quality of parks and open space (80%)
- Top two quality of life issues: capacity and efficiency of the roadway system (85%) and rapid growth and development (75%)
- Desired new development types: parks and recreational space (63%) and shopping, retail and entertainment venues (56%)
- Top two challenges to economic growth: capacity of roadwork (59%) and availability of reliable transportation options (26%)
- Desired transportation investments if the county received additional funding: reducing traffic congestion (82%) and maintenance of county roads and neighborhood streets (77%)
- Of those who completed the survey, 79% said they feel good about the future of Shelby County (38% of those added community support is needed in some areas).
The next steps in the process will be to release the survey results to the public on planshelbyal.com and draft an existing conditions and trends report. The plan is scheduled to be considered for adoption this fall.
The Shelby County Commission also on Monday approved funding for the park and recreation grant program for fiscal 2022, giving $296,920 to six entities. County Manager Chad Scroggins said it was a good disbursement and they were able to utilize most of the $300,000 budget. The projects could not exceed $100,000 and required a 50% match by the applicant. The budget was doubled for fiscal 2022, and the number of applicants tripled.
The six grants were awarded to:
- Shelby Elementary School — $15,226 for playground improvements
- Calera Elementary School — $46,979 for playground improvements
- City of Montevallo — $38,150 for a restroom project at Stephens Park
- City of Columbiana — $82,925 for fencing and bleachers at the softball field
- Boys & Girls Club of Central Alabama — $56,350 for a building project
- Oak Mountain Youth Baseball & Softball Association —$57,291 to replace 18 sets of bleachers at Heardmont Park.
“This grant program allows us to make our dollars go further,” Scroggins said. “It also allows groups to do their own project. They provide us with invoices and proof, and we cut them a check and let them run with it.”
Shelby County Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Naugher shared budget numbers for the first three months of fiscal 2022 and said everything is favorable at this point. Sales tax revenue was $1.4 million over budget year to date. Rental tax revenue is up almost $100,000 year to date. Lodging tax revenue continues to climb and is up 21% from last year, and highway gas tax revenues are up 14% year to date.
