Community questions developers on Patriot Park lot proposals

A small crowd gathered on Wednesday night to discuss proposals for the vacant lot at 165 Oxmoor Road.

The Nov. 4 meeting was planned by Mike Higginbotham, the administrator of the West Homewood Facebook page, at the Hub, next door to Seeds Coffee. It included both developers who had submitted proposals for the lot, along with Council President Bruce Limbaugh and Ward 2 Representatives Fred Hawkins and Vance Moody.

All three council members said repeatedly through the meeting that they had not come to a conclusion on whether to pick one of the proposals or reject both, and that the purpose of the meeting was to guide that decision.

Sonya DiCarlo presented her Grove development, a two-story building anchored by a Cajun cafe and including multiple retailers and event space, as well as a patio and possible rooftop dining. Coleman Beal also shared details of his proposal for a food truck park, which would include hookups for up to 10 food trucks to lease space, a beer garden contracted to a single brewery and patio seating.

After their presentations, community members were invited to ask questions and make comments. No strong preference emerged from the crowd's spoken comments on what development was preferred, though Higginbotham collected ballot slips for residents to share their thoughts at the end of the meeting. After counting the slips, Higginbotham reported that 69 percent of respondents preferred the Grove, 14 percent preferred the food truck and 14 percent favored neither.

Audience questions included details about the developers' previous experience in creating a project of this sort and managing tenants; DiCarlo cited her previous business experience and Beal said he had extensive financial experience and his proposal partner, Tom Walker, works with Bayer Properties on similar developments.

The developers were also questioned on finances. DiCarlo and her partner, Paula Harris, are offering only $50,000 for the lot compared to Beal and Walker's $140,000. DiCarlo said this is due to the expense of extra environmental testing for the former gas station site, though Moody and Hawkins said the Alabama Department of Environmental Management had already found the site to be clean. The Grove also requires a larger upfront investment, though the food truck park is more flexible if it is unsuccessful and a new development wants to take its place.

Beal described the vacant lot as a potential "signature piece of Homewood" that can act as a gateway to West Homewood.

DiCarlo could not give a definite cost for construction, as the building design has not been finalized, and she said tenants could include other restaurants, a brewery, retail or a nail salon. She believed the development would generate at least $85,000 in tax revenue in the first year for the city. Walker had said in a previous presentation that the food truck partnership has budgeted $450,000 for purchase and development of the lot. Beal did not have an estimate of tax revenue, but said that he feels comfortable in the business' success based on interest from Birmingham food trucks and conversations with other food truck parks around the country.

Moody noted that the city will include in its agreement a payback guarantee to make sure any loss to the city from selling the property is made up over several years.

Parking was a concern, as residents mentioned packed lots for the park and people parking in front of their houses. Sharing parking with Shades Valley Community Church was mentioned as a solution, though this could present problems during the summer farmer's market located there and events throughout the year. Hawkins and Moody mentioned that the longterm West Homewood plan includes more parking spaces and efforts to slow traffic and reroute cut-through drivers away from residential areas.

The Grove's event space, which DiCarlo mentioned as a possible site for senior center activities and other events, drew questions about other event spaces in the city. Limbaugh estimated that Rosewood Hall's space is occupied about 50 percent of the time, and Higginbotham, a member of the library board, said the library meeting rooms are frequently in use. DiCarlo said she would want to bring music and new events, especially for seniors, to the second-story rooms and balcony.

Other worries from meeting attendees included the impact of having alcohol sales near a park frequented by children, the aesthetics of both developments and the impact of weather on the open-air food truck park. Beal said that outdoor heaters would combat winter cold, but rain would cause fewer sales. He noted that most restaurants also experience slow sales on bad weather days, even with a roof.

Both developers said they were inspired by the other development going on in the community and wanted to be part of it. Morgan Duncan, the owner of nearby Oak and Raleigh, said he believed that the community needed to pick a development and get behind it, rather than doing nothing and having the same conversation down the road.

"Option three [rejecting both proposals] is not an option," Duncan said. "We've got momentum and we've got to act on it."

Limbaugh estimated that the council would choose an option within 30 days. If chosen, Beal estimated a mid-summer food truck park opening and DiCarlo's original proposal to the city had a year-long construction timeline.

"How it benefits Homewood should always be how we think," Limbaugh said.