City approves change to NPD zoning regarding home height

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Houses in the Neighborhood Preservation District are now subject to a new measurement system when determining whether they meet the height limit, after the Homewood City Council approved zoning ordinance changes tonight.

The NPD zoning ordinance allows a height of up to 29 feet for homes on lots under 55 feet wide or a limit of 35 feet for houses on wider lots, as measured from threshold to peak. From the median front grade of the lot, homes can be up to 32 feet tall on lots under 55 feet wide or 38 feet on larger lots.

Previous ordinance wording, Building, Engineering and Zoning employee Greg Cobb said, required using the average height on all four sides of the house, which was both complicated and allowed taller houses to meet the requirements if they were built into a hill, creating a "shorter" wall that lowered the overall average.

Cobb said the new wording changes the ordinance to just measure from the center of the front exterior wall to the roof peak. This is simpler to measure and explain to homeowners, and he said it will be more limiting on overall home height.

One Saulter Road resident spoke tonight, as he was concerned that the new measurement system would make it easier for tall homes to be built and tower over smaller homes such as his.

"We have to depend on you to protect our property rights," he said. "I hope you won't make it looser than it is now."

However, Cobb and Council members assured him that was the opposite of their intentions with the change.

"I know we brought it [the height limit] down because we upset some builders," Cobb said.

The Council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance change.

An issue of funding right-of-way work on a homeowner's property divided Council members tonight. Jon Gray asked the city for permission to work in the right-of-way and funding help to resolve drainage issues at his home on South Lakeshore Drive.

Gray intends to add box culverts and pipeline to an existing culvert, which is as deep as roughly eight feet in some places, both to control stormwater runoff on his property and as a safety measure. He asked the Council to pay for the portion of the culvert in the city's right-of-way, costing roughly $18,250, while he would pay for the culvert on his property and all sod. 

The total project cost is estimated at $42,000, Gray said.

When he initially made this request at the April 2 Finance Committee meeting, Gray met concern from Council members about the expense and the precedent, as Ward 1 Representative Andy Gwaltney said similar requests have been denied in the past. After a 2-3 vote in the committee, Gray then proffered to pay half of the city's portion of the project in an attempt to get the project approved.

Tonight, there was confusion on the Council's part about the order of approvals. First, a close 6-5 vote approved funding $18,250 for Gray, with Gwaltney, Britt Thames (Ward 1), Patrick McClusky (Ward 3), Peter Wright (Ward 5) and Council President Bruce Limbaugh in opposition.

City attorney Mike Kendrick reminded Council members that they had not yet approved Gray to work in the right-of-way to complete the project. This was then approved with a 9-2 vote, with Gwaltney and Thames opposing.

After being reminded of Gray's April 2 proffer to pay half the city's cost, Ward 3 Representative Walter Jones made a new motion to rescind the previous funding vote and fund only up to $9,125 for the project.

However, this was shot down in a 4-7 vote. Mike Higginbotham and Andrew Wolverton (Ward 2), McClusky, Barry Smith and Alex Wyatt (Ward 4) and Jennifer Andress and Peter Wright (Ward 5) opposed the decision. With that, the narrow approval of Gray's full requested funding is final.

The council also:

  • Approved $14,547 for a sidewalk on Clermont Drive, from Valley Avenue to Royce Road, and $9,850 for a connecting pathway on Covenant Way to Columbiana Road.
  • Approved right-of-way work to renovate the sidewalk in from of a home on Mayfair Drive, with assistance from the city.
  • Voted to send Mike Higginbotham as a voting delegate to the Alabama League of Municipalities annual convention on May 19-22.
  • Approved a lease agreement for postage machines, for the finance and city clerk's offices, at a rate of $146.40 per month.
  • Approved a special events retail wine license for Western Supermarket, 1616 Oxmoor Road, to hold Le Tour de Bordeaux wine tasting.
  • Declared certain finance and city clerk's office items as surplus to be sold at auction.
  • Decided to set interview dates for two applicants for the Ward 4 Board of Education seat.
  • Approved incumbent Amber Kustos to retain her at-large seat on the Homewood Environmental Commission.
  • Extended the application deadlines for the Ward 1 Library Board seat and the Ward 4 Historic Preservation seat by one week, to April 16.

The council is also considering changing its May meeting dates due to conflicts with Homewood High School's graduation ceremony and Memorial Day, but new dates have not been finalized.