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Council to discuss incentives for West Homewood pizzeria, school growth funding

by

Sydney Cromwell

Courtesy of Giani Respinto

Two major projects will be heading to the city council's committee meetings next Monday for further consideration. The first is a proposal by GianMarcos owner Giani Respinto to buy the city-owned lot at 165 Oxmoor Road to construct and open a new restaurant called Pizzeria GM.

During a public hearing at the Oct. 10 city council meeting, Respinto described the family-friendly restaurant, which will feature patio seating, draft beer and wine and a games area. Respinto said the menu's most expensive items will be $15. A sample menu he provided included pizza, pasta, salami and cheese plates, sandwiches, salad and Italian-themed appetizers.

"You could sell that land to anybody. But I have great vision for it," Respinto said.

According to city attorney Mike Kendrick, Respinto is offering to purchase the lot for $135,000 and requesting certain incentives: rebate of non-education ad valorem tax, reimbursement of business license fees for three years and 50 percent of the one-cent sales tax revenue on the property for 10 years. The incentives would be capped at $500,000 total and contingent on the Respinto family continuing to own and operate the restaurant.

Respinto said he expects to invest about $600,000 in the property.

The incentives will be discussed in next week's finance committee meeting, and will return to council for a decision on Oct. 24.

"This is what we've been waiting for," said Ward 5 Representative Peter Wright, who led the meeting in Council President Bruce Limbaugh's absence.

The committee will also be considering a request from Homewood City Schools and the Homewood Park Board for additional funding to expand their facilities to meet demand. Mayor Scott McBrayer said the most likely source of funding would be a one-cent increase to the sales tax, which he estimated would create about $7.2 million in new annual revenue.

Full cost estimates for the projects, which involve significant renovation and new construction, have not been released. Parks and Recreation Director Berkley Squires estimated the cost of reconfiguring playing fields at West Homewood Park and building tennis courts and a pool at Patriot Park to be around $40-45 million. McBrayer said he expects the city would need to borrow roughly $55 million for the schools expansion project.

The council has set a public hearing on the funding issue for Oct. 24.

The council also:

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