Council sets public hearing for 18th Street hotel, retail development
The city council will hear public thoughts on a planned hotel and retail development on 18th Street South next month.
The planning commission approved a development plan and rezoning request for the project, which is slated for the former homes of Little Professor Bookstore, Hatfield Auto and Wolf Camera along 18th Street South, earlier this month after some changes by developer Mike Mouron.
Mouron's proposal calls for a five-story, 129-room Curio by Hilton hotel with multiple adjacent retail and restaurant spaces, as well as about 211 parking spaces on the property and a nearby lot that Mouron has purchased.
The council has set a Sept. 11 date for the public hearing and final vote on the development plan and rezoning application, which would zone 2713, 2725, 2727 and 2717 18th Street and 2728 Mamie L Foster from Central Business District and High Rise Office/Commercial District to Mixed Use District.
The council also approved an increase in the parking time limit on 18th Street South spaces from two hours to three hours. The change is part of an effort to tighten enforcement of the time limits to free up more parking spaces during heavy-use hours. Ward 1 Representative Britt Thames said he and wardmate Andy Gwaltney have met with downtown merchants, who were generally positive about the change, and he's already seen some tickets handed out by police.
The council also:
- Approved adding minimum dwelling size back into the Neighborhood Preservation District's zoning regulations. The minimums are based on home lots' width.
- Approved dedication of Edgewood Place as a city road, dependent on approval that it meets city standards when complete and notarization of the dedication document.
- Approved Mobilitie to work in the public right-of-way to install two new small-cell utility poles, one on Aquarius Drive behind the Barber plant and one on State Farm Parkway, with a streetlight on top.
- Approved the police department's request to reject all bids for demolition work on the future site of the public safety headquarters, on Bagby Drive, due to a new scope of work that will reduce the cost.
- Approved addition of a street light near the Lee Center parking lot.
- Approved a restaurant retail liquor license for Bartaco, 1017 Oxmoor Road.
- Approved depositing public investment funds at Iberia Bank.
- Approved the expense of $2,498 to participate in Alabama Magazine's Jefferson County Spotlight.
- Approved placing liens on 2827 and 2831 16th Place S. for the cost of abating public nuisances on the properties.
- Approved declaring 1632 25th Terrace S. a public nuisance due to excessive growth. Codes officer Scott Cook said some work had been done to clean up the property, but it was not complete and there had been no communication from the owner.
- Denied a request for a fence variance at 2920 Leland Drive, partly based on objections from surrounding neighbors.
- Referred an annexation petition for 1809 Southbrook Circle to the planning and development committee. Since the property is surrounded by Homewood-zoned properties on all sides, city attorney Mike Kendrick said there is no need to hold a public hearing for the property.
- Set public hearings on Aug. 28 for a front yard wall variance request at 120 West Glenwood Drive and a sign variance request at 1 Independence Drive.
- Set a public hearing on Nov. 13 for a petition of annexation for 1400 Shades Crest Road.
- Opened an at-large seat on the Industrial Development Board and two at-large seats on the Commercial Development Board for applicants. Applications must be delivered to the city clerk's office by Aug. 28.
- Dropped public nuisance requests for the properties at 1500 Wellington Road and 1620 26th Ave. S. due to the owners cleaning up messes and overgrowth to the city's satisfaction.