Homewood to pursue ADA compliance in city sidewalks, facilities

The public works committee briefly discussed a plan to bring Homewood into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act at Monday's meeting.

Greg Cobb of the Building, Engineering and Zoning Department said the city will need to name a coordinator to lead the retrofitting work. This would include city sidewalks, buildings and public facilities such as ball fields and the community center.

Cobb said the coordinator must be named by January, and a compliance plan must be put into place in order to include it in future city budgets. The discussion was carried over to the next meeting.

The special issues committee also met on Oct. 3 to discuss a proposed new tree ordinance. The ordinance was developed by the Homewood Environmental Commission and includes a tree conservation permit that, while free, must be obtained before removing protected tree species that are eight inches or greater in diameter. Removing a tree without the permit would result in a $75 fine and a misdemeanor charge.

The proposed ordinance includes a "minimum residual density" of 16 trees per acre for lots one acre or less in size, 20 trees per acre for one to five-acre properties and 24 trees per acre for properties over five acres. Developments with parking lots have additional landscaping requirements. Properties that don't meet these standards would be grandfathered in under the ordinance unless the owners expanded or added new construction on the property.

A list of approved native trees for replacement planting was included in the ordinance, which outlines that the city building inspectors would be responsible for enforcing compliance with the ordinance and monitoring tree removal and replanting.

The committee and several city employees present had concerns with the ordinance, including its regulation of homeowners' property and the possibility of fining a resident who wants to add on to their home when a previous homeowner was responsible for the property not meeting the minimum residual density. City attorney Mike Kendrick said that tree removal without a permit was a civil issue, not a misdemeanor, and it's possible the city could get sued.

Vanessa McGrath of the BEZ Department said the biggest concern was finding a way to enforce the ordinance as building inspectors already have heavy workloads.

“Enforcing, again, is the biggest issue we have … because we don’t have the manpower,” McGrath said.

No decision was made on the ordinance at tonight's meeting.