Central Avenue parking, Big Bad Breakfast development discussed at committee meetings

A proposal for sidewalks and about 30 new parking spots on Central Avenue was presented to the finance committee at tonight's meeting.

Jared Lewis, who is developing the Caliber outdoors store at 2824 Central Ave., brought renderings of a plan to add parking spaces on both sides of Central Avenue in front of Caliber and Brandino Brass, as well as on 28th Ave. S. The plan would include some work in the city right of way for the spaces, sidewalks and landscaping.

Lewis, who said about $3 million worth of work is being invested in the Caliber property, added that the proposal would slow traffic as well as provide parking, and it could be “something that would be better for the whole neighborhood.”

The committee was generally supportive of the idea but decided to get a traffic engineer's opinion on whether the addition of parking spaces would cause any sight distance issues. Building, Engineering and Zoning Department employee Greg Cobb estimated that the curb work and spaces directly in front of Caliber would cost around $10,000, but a total estimate was not given. The proposal will stay in the committee until they have a traffic engineer report and can decide how to amend the budget to accommodate this project.

Another developer also came to the special issues committee tonight to request the temporary closure of sidewalks and parking spaces in front of 1926 29th Ave. S. for construction work on the future site of Big Bad Breakfast.

Roy Cornelius of Nearen Construction presented the demolition and construction plans for the breakfast restaurant to the council, which includes a new facade, roof work, sidewalks and landscaping. The public right-of-way would be closed off during this work as a safety precaution for vehicles and pedestrians.

Cornelius estimated that work would be complete by May 1 and the city would gain one additional parking space when it is complete. He added that the Red Lion Lounge, which shares the building, will stay open during construction.

This item was sent to the city council for approval.

Some confusion arose in the finance committee meeting over a letter sent by the Alabama Department of Revenue that it would not accept the city's recent sales tax increase because the ordinance did not include wording about the city levying a police jurisdiction tax. This tax would be on properties outside Homewood city limits that use the city's police or fire services.

City attorney Mike Kendrick said Homewood has never levied a police jurisdiction tax because it is completely surrounded by other municipalities, so there aren't unincorporated areas that need their service. However, Finance Director and City Clerk Melody Saulter said a 1999 sales tax ordinance in the city had included some wording about a police jurisdiction tax, thus causing the ADOR's request that the new sales tax ordinance be amended.

Instead, the committee asked Kendrick to discuss the issue with the ADOR and remove mention of the police jurisdiction tax from the 1999 ordinance.

Finally, the planning and development committee began considering options for a citywide traffic study.

Mike Kaczorowski of the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham presented two options to the committee for how to go about the study. They can choose to manage the study themselves, which gives more flexibility in which streets are included in the study but also means the city has to deal with ALDOT directly and will likely take more time, or the city can work through an APPLE grant, which is faster but can only study a very narrow area of the city.

Ward 1 Representative Britt Thames said the general goal of the study would be solutions to get traffic off of residential and side streets and onto the main thoroughfares. So, one option in using the APPLE grant would be to study only major roadways such as Lakeshore Drive, Valley Avenue and Oxmoor Road. However, this would prevent the city from studying further effects on smaller streets.

The study is also complicated by the fact that I-65, U.S. 31 and Green Springs Avenue are state-controlled roads, and major projects are underway on Lakeshore, Valley and Oxmoor that will dramatically change traffic flow and could render study results useless. The committee discussed studying areas for immediate improvement while these larger projects are going on.

Kaczorowski said there are more ways to slow down and discourage traffic on minor roads than speed bumps, which the council has typically opposed due to potential damage and slowed response times for fire engines. Median islands, bike lanes and bulb-out curb extensions are also options that are more likely to deter traffic than stop signs and speed limits.

“It’s got to be visual,” Kaczorowski said. “I’ve seen some really innovative stuff.”

The committee carried over discussion so each representative could talk to their wards about problem traffic areas, to get a better sense of which study route to take.