Council votes on home condemnations, sale of city property to Captain D's
The Homewood City Council considered a number of properties for condemnations and public nuisance declarations at its July 9 meeting.
Due to safety and neglect issues – as reported and photographed by Building, Engineering and Zoning department head Wyatt Pugh – the properties at 101 Ventura Avenue, 1602 Ridge Road and 28 Edgehill Road were condemned. After 30 days, the city can demolish the structures on these properties and charge the owners for the cost.
The Ventura Avenue property was recently bought by new owners, who Ward 5 Representative Jennifer Andress said have been getting bids to demolish the house themselves, and should begin that work within a couple weeks.
Pugh said the Ridge Road house had rotting sections and no electricity or plumbing for several years, and it was a repeated yard overgrowth issue. The owner disagreed with Pugh's assessment of the condition and said it is livable, and he has been trying to sell the house for about two years.
The house on Edgehill Road has also been in poor condition for a while, according to longtime neighbors who spoke about the mold, rot, fallen trees and other signs of neglect on the property over the years, especially since its former occupant died about two years ago.
The council delayed a decision on condemning a detached garage at 2900 16th Place South. The owner of the property said a stream behind her home was continually eroding the ground, causing loss of trees and damage to the garage, and said that the city had told her in 1994 that it would fix the stream erosion issues.
No one in city administration at the council meeting had any awareness of this promise. Pugh said the detached garage had extensive damage and neglect issues. The owner said she would like to repair and use the garage again but doesn't want to invest in it until the erosion issue is under control.
The council chose to carry over the matter until its next meeting so the city could evaluate her property and the stream behind it.
City Council members also heard a number of requests to declare properties as public nuisances due to overgrown vegetation, litter and other complaints. Similar to condemnation, declaring a public nuisance allows the city to fix the things that are out of compliance and charge the owners for the cost.
The properties at 507 Tamworth Lane, 1801 Kensington Road and 1117 Hardwick Lane were declared public nuisances.
The council voted to drop public nuisance items for 260 Oxmoor Road and 1649 28th Avenue South, as both owners have addressed issues with litter and overgrowth to bring the properties in compliance with city codes.
City Council members also voted to allow the mayor to sell a city property at 431 Green Springs Highway to Captain D's. Mayor Scott McBrayer said the fast casual seafood franchise had been interested in a Homewood location for a while and the city property made a good fit.
McBrayer said the purchase price for the property was $150,000, but he did not have details on when the Captain D's plans to begin construction or open the new location. The Homewood Star has reached out to the company for comment.
At next week's finance committee meeting, council members will discuss a request from Milo's Tea Company for an incentives package to relocate their headquarters to Homewood, Council President Bruce Limbaugh said. He said the company is looking at a 26,000-square-foot location at 2204 Lakeshore Drive, and any request from Milo's will have to be discussed with the city's attorney as well as being considered by the council.
The council also:
- Approved crosswalks across Central Avenue at the intersections of Reese Street, 28th Court South and Parkridge Drive.
- Approved restaurant retail liquor licenses for Magic City Sweet Ice, 715 Oak Grove Road, and Bricktop's, 2800 Highway 280, dependent upon approvals from the police and fire departments for both and a certificate of occupancy for Bricktop's.
- Approved a request to retire police K9 officer Shiloh due to hip dysplasia. Shiloh, who will become the family pet of his current handler, joins fellow K9 officer Justice in recent retirement. The council also approved an $11,000 transfer in the police budget from its physical fitness fund to pay for new dogs from a kennel in Tuscaloosa.
- Approved $17,500 for the Homewood Public Library to fix flooding and drainage issues on the property, which will include digging up part of the parking lot to reroute part of the drainage piping.
- Sent the mayor a request to add $200,000 for the Hollywood pedestrian bridge project to the 2019 fiscal year's budget.
- Approved contracts with DataVentures for scanning court documents and Cintas for fleet maintenance uniforms.
- Approved ServisFirst's headquarters in Rosedale to move the location of a sign already in the city's right-of-way.
- Set a public hearing for Aug. 13 to consider a sign variance request at 828 Green Springs Highway.