Council votes to amend West Homewood District zoning

The Homewood City Council on Oct. 21 voted unanimously to amend the West Homewood District zoning plan. 

Ward 2 council member Mike Higginbotham, who led the effort to amend the plan, said the reasoning was simple. 

“We wanted to help control and promote commercial development,” Higginbotham said. 

The council modified the zoning after area residents expressed concern to Higginbotham and fellow Ward 2 representative Andrew Wolverton.

Some of these concerns came after the Homewood Planning Commission voted in June to approve six townhouses at Oak Grove Road and Raleigh Avenue. Numerous area residents expressed opposition to that project. 

In the amendment, the council put in place additional plan requirements for all new developments to follow. Some of the requirements include outside appearance and exterior finishes of the building, building heights, number of floors and 11 other requirements. 

These requirements must be filed with the building application. 

Some building applications will also need supplemental information to be approved by the council. 

According to the ordinance, the regulating plan in place for the West Homewood District is a street-based classification system. The intent of the system is to provide mixed-use parcels for citizens’ use along Scott Street, Oxmoor Road and Oak Grove Road. 

Retail stores, office spaces, restaurants and other uses are permitted for development in the West Homewood District after receiving council approval. 

Over the course of the next year, there could be more discussion over this district. 

Higginbotham said many ideas about changes arose during the process, and he is not ruling out more changes in the future.