Planning Commission approves new Edgewood subdivision, zoning book changes

A new development at 800-808 Saulter Road and 809 Carr Avenue was approved with relatively little discussion by the Planning Commission tonight, a marked difference from the public opposition to previous proposals for the site.

Jason Kessler and KADCO Homes presented a new eight-home development plan that conforms to all Neighborhood Preservation District ordinances, including building height, setbacks from property lines and lot coverage. Previous plans Kessler had presented included a request to rezone the lots to Planned Residential District to build 12 houses conforming to different ordinances.

Area residents had spoken out in multiple hearings, both in the Planning Commission and the City Council, to maintain the rules of NPD zoning and avoid potential traffic, aesthetic and stormwater issues due to the development density. The City Council denied Kessler’s rezoning request on July 23.

Tonight’s presented plan does not require any zoning changes or variances. One resident asked the Planning Commission to consider stormwater runoff impact in the area, but no other residents spoke on the subject. Kessler said the engineer for the project said drainage systems planned for the property would sufficiently meet runoff needs.

The members of the Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the development plan.

The commission also approved a series of changes to the city’s zoning book. These must be considered by the City Council to be enacted. Those changes:

• Remove specifications stating that masonry or concrete fences are not allowed. However, the commission decided to consider wording that would include all acceptable fencing types, rather than leaving it open to interpretation.
• Return corner house lots to being considered as two front property lines, instead of one front and one side property line, due to issues with setbacks from the street.
• Amend the definition of a story for accessory structure height measurement. A story is measured as the upper surface of one floor to the next, a basement area if its ceiling is more than 4.5 feet above grade or an area under the roof if it has at least 8 feet of head clearance in at least 50 percent of the floor area. These measurements are only used in limiting accessory structure height, as houses are measured from threshold to roof peak without regard for stories.
• Houses cannot be closer to the front property line than any other house within 100 feet on the same side of the street, and never closer than 25 feet. This is a reduction from the previous measurement, which compared a home’s position to other houses on either side of the street within 250 feet. Houses also can’t be further away from the front property line than the average in that same radius, plus 10 percent. The goal of this is to produce general consistency in where homes are located on lots.
• The calculations above can exclude the largest and smallest lots within that 100-foot radius for calculating purposes, to prevent unusually-shaped lots from throwing off calculations. The Planning Commission also considered making setbacks from side property lines 10 feet in all cases.
• Add tobacco and vape shops to accepted uses in the C-3 Community Shopping District zone, and remove them, as well as bridal shops, from accepted businesses in Mixed Use Districts.
• Specify that all structures, including house, driveway, accessory structure and other “hard” surfaces, can take up no more than 50 percent of a lot, or 55 percent if permeable surfaces are used in at least 5 percent of the coverage. Accessory structures can take up a maximum of 30 percent of rear yard space. The Planning Commission will have to define accepted “permeable surfaces” before the change is enacted.
• Garages, carports and accessory structures can be no more than 25 feet high from footing to roof peak.

The Planning Commission is also continuing to discuss rules about rear yard accessory structures and whether they must meet certain setback and height requirements. Some clarifications and specifying information may be added before the City Council considers these changes as long as they don’t impact the substance of the changes being made.

The commission carried over the rest of its business:

• Consideration of the draft downtown master plan presented by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
• A request to subdivide 507 and 513 Rumson Road from two parcels to three parcels.
• A request from Walmart and Sam’s on Lakeshore Parkway to amend their development plan for new entry and exit plans.
• Discussion of a change to NPD development ordinances related to lot width and density, due to need for more discussion.

The next Planning Commission meeting will be Sept. 4.