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Lake Cyrus North vicinity map
The area highlighted in red is 833 acres proposed for development as the Lake Cyrus North community, with up to 2,800 residential units and 600,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space.
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Lake Cyrus North master concept
This is the conceptual master plan for the Lake Cyrus North community proposed on 833 acres on the north side of Alabama 150 next to the Deer Valley and Ross Bridge communities. As proposed, it would include up to 2,800 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space.
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Image by Nequette Architecure &
Lake Cyrus North Bldg Plan
This is the building development plan for the Lake Cyrus North community proposed on 833 acres on the north side of Alabama 150 next to the Deer Valley and Ross Bridge communities. As proposed, it would include up to 2,800 homes and 600,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space.
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Image by Nequette Architecure &
Lake Cyrus North Town Center
This is the master plan for the Lake Cyrus North "Town Center District," which would include up to 900 residential units and 500,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space on 144 acres.
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Image by Nequette Architecure &
Lake Cyrus North Village Center
This is the master plan for the Lake Cyrus North "Village Center District," which would include up to 750 residential units and 100,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space on 155 acres.
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Image by Nequette Architecure &
Lake Cyrus North zoning plan
This is the zoning plan for the Lake Cyrus North community proposed on 833 acres on the north side of Alabama 150 next to the Deer Valley and Ross Bridge communities. As proposed, it would include up to 2,800 residential units and 600,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space.
Signature Homes is proposing to build up to 2,800 residential dwellings and 600,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space on 833 acres next to the Deer Valley and Ross Bridge communities.
That would surpass the roughly 2,300 dwellings in Ross Bridge and likely take more than a decade to build out if approved.
Signature Homes has submitted a rezoning request for the unincorporated property to the Jefferson County Planning Commission, and the commission is slated to hear the request on Sept. 10.
All the property is on the north side of Alabama 150, across from Lake Cyrus. It is currently being referred to as “Lake Cyrus North,” but that is just a placeholder for identification, Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher said. A different name would come later, he said.
The conceptual plan submitted to Jefferson County shows four primary parts of the proposed development:
- About 144 acres near Alabama 150 that would include a “town center” with 900 residential units and up to 500,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space.
- About 155 acres in the interior of the development for a “village center” with up to 100,000 square feet of commercial space and 750 residential units, including single-family detached homes, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, town houses/row houses and multi-family units. These 750 units would be restricted to people age 55 and older and likely would include properties both for rent and for sale, Belcher said.
- About 292 acres of “medium-density residential” development with 1,150 homes, including a mixture of single-family detached homes, town houses/row houses, lofts, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cluster homes and patio garden homes.
- About 242 acres of common space
Belcher said the primary focus of this development is to fill a void for affordable housing in the metro area, especially for the “active adult” — or 55 and older — market, young couples and young families. Signature Homes found especially strong demand for the 55+ market when building new homes in Trace Crossings, he said.
He also sees the potential to develop a trail system that could connect to the Moss Rock Preserve nature park and also extend underneath Alabama 150 to the Lake Cyrus community, he said.
The land currently is mostly zoned for I-3 heavy industrial use, which would allow for things such as cement plants, iron and steel mills, railroad shops and timber and logging operations.
But some of it is zoned for R-2 single-family residential use, which in Jefferson County requires lots of at least 10,000 square feet and at least 60 feet wide, and single-story homes of at least 900 square feet or two-story homes of at least 1,000 square feet, with at least 800 square feet on the first floor.
Signature Homes is asking the county to rezone the 833 acres as an R-7 Planned United Development for mixed use as described above.
The land currently is owned by Marbury Properties and CCN Asset Management, according to rezoning notices sent out by the county. But Signature Homes has a contract to buy the property and plans to close on it in the next few months, Belcher said. The contract is not contingent on getting the property rezoned, he said.
ANNEXATION INTO HOOVER?
Signature Homes a couple of years ago let an option to buy this property expire because the company was not confident enough that Hoover would annex the land, but now Signature Homes doesn’t think annexation into Hoover is necessary, Belcher said.
He knows the Hoover school system can’t support additional homes other than those already on planning documents, without some type of plan to address such growth, and right now there is no solution for that, he said.
So Signature Homes is prepared to develop the property in Jefferson County, he said. He isn’t sure which Jefferson County schools would serve that property, but that’s not a major consideration because their primary market is older adults, young couples and young families with preschool-age children, he said.
However, Signature Homes has had talks with at least one entity interested in putting a private school in the development, he said.
The current landowners in recent years discussed conceptual plans for this land with Hoover officials, but Hoover was not ready to annex the land, said Councilman Curt Posey, who is chairman of the City Council’s Annexation Committee.
At that time, the idea included a technology park, which had some potential because Hoover doesn’t have much industrial land and there are numerous industrial projects nearby along Lakeshore Parkway, Posey said.
But adding more land for residential development in Hoover is problematic because of the impact it would have on schools and city services, Posey said.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said it has been a while since he was presented ideas for the property and he has yet to see an entire plan for the land in question.
Signature Homes certainly has no obligation to discuss its plans with the city since the land is unincorporated, but Brocato said he feels certain officials with the company would do so because “that’s the kind of folks they are.”
“We know that eventually something is going to go there,” Brocato said. “I hope that the city can have some type of input into that. It’s very important that we protect our borders and understand what’s going on that affects that part of Hoover … Obviously, it’s not something we can stop, but we at least would like to have some input.”
“If it’s going to happen and we want control of what’s going to happen, we may need to consider annexing that,” Brocato said. “Otherwise, we have very little voice in it.”
City officials will reach out to the current property owners and to Signature Homes to discuss the plans and see what part the city of Hoover may play in terms of annexation or providing services, the mayor said.
SCHOOLS AND TRAFFIC
Brocato said his biggest concern is whether the Hoover school system could handle more homes, but he also is concerned about traffic.
He said this project might help sell the need for a new Interstate 459 interchange south of South Shades Crest Road, which is something he has said is the ultimate answer to the city’s traffic woes in western Hoover.
However, it’s premature to take a position on the development or annexation until he hears more about the proposal, he said. Hoover officials also will contact Jefferson County officials to share their concerns, Brocato said.
Gurudatta Naik, a resident of the Deer Valley community, said he is concerned the development as proposed would increase crime in western Hoover and overburden roads. “(Alabama) 150 is not equipped to hold this kind of traffic,” he said.
He also thinks adding that many homes would create problems for the real estate market and make it harder for people to sell existing houses.
If the property were brought into the city, he is concerned about the impact on schools and the Hoover Police Department, he said.
Posey said if the city of Hoover were to annex the property, the number of homes being requested probably would have to be reduced.
“I just don’t see how we could take in that much density right now with everything we have going on,” Posey said. “That would be a hard ask.”
Belcher said the proposed new I-459 interchange would help handle traffic from Signature’s development. Also, both the residential and commercial parts would generate new property and sales tax revenues for Jefferson County and the state, he said.
He would like to work out an arrangement for residents in the development to pay fire dues to the Hoover Fire Department, he said. This property sits in close proximity two Hoover fire stations on Alabama 150 and in Ross Bridge. He also would like to work out an agreement for the Hoover Police Department to serve the community, he said.
The plan is to connect to the Jefferson County sewer system and to either the Birmingham or Bessemer water systems, all of which are in close proximity and with available capacity, he said.
REZONING MEETING DETAILS
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Jefferson County Department of Development Services strongly encourages anyone wishing to comment about the rezoning request to do so in writing via email at Contact_Zoning@jccal.org or by mail to Jefferson County Department of Development Services, Attn: Michael R. Morrison, 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd N, Birmingham, AL 35203 by Sept. 9 and include the Case No. Z-20-0015.
Comments also may be given in person at the Sept. 10 meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission, but speakers must sign up in advance by 12:50 p.m. — 10 minutes ahead of the meeting start time. The meeting is in Room 200D (the jury assembly room) at the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Birmingham.
Signature Homes will have 15 minutes to present its request, and any opponents will have a total of 15 minutes to give comments. Groups are asked to designate a spokesperson. The meeting will be broadcast live on the Jefferson County Facebook page.
This article was updated at 7:19 p.m. with comments from Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher and corrected at 8:06 p.m. to indicate that the first area to be developed as a 55+ community is the 750 units in the "village center."
