Map courtesy of city of Homewood
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This map shows proposed lines for dividing the city of Homewood, Alabama, into four City Council wards instead of five.
The Finance Committee of the Homewood City Council got its first look at the state-generated, four-ward map of the city that is a key in the push to shift to a city manager-council form of government.
“It’s not a whole lot different from what we have now, except the lines generally go north,” Council President Alex Wyatt said. “In order to make the census numbers work, the old Ward 5 (new Ward 4) doesn’t have a lot of people in it. That’s why there is a portion of (Ward) 4 that is south of Lakeshore.”
Old Ward 2 and new Ward 1 also needed more people to even its population with the other wards. It picked up an area that is south of Lakeshore.
“The new Wards 2 and 3 are, quite frankly, just very densely populated,” Wyatt said. “There are a lot of houses and a lot of people in that area.”
By state statute, each ward should be within 5% of (greater or less than) the median population, based on the most recent census data.
“Importantly,” Wyatt said, “it keeps Rosedale as one piece, and it has the benefit of evening out the population per the census data as it’s required.”
Councilwoman Melanie Geer noted that Oxmoor Road has been a dividing line for city, state and federal districts. Mayor Patrick McClusky said major arteries comprise dividing lines, although Oxmoor might not be as prominent a divider as it has been.
And since boundaries generally are streets, a resident could be in a different ward than his neighbor across the street.
The council president also provided the wording of a petition to change to a council-manager form of government, which says:
“We the undersigned qualified voters of the City of Homewood, in accordance with Section 11-43A-2 of the Code of Alabama, petition the probate judge of Jefferson County, Alabama, to submit the following question to the qualified voters of the City of Homewood on an election ballot: Shall the council-manager form of government as provided by the Council-Manager Act of 1982 be adopted for the City of Homewood?”
“Again, it's controlled by statute,” he said, “so it's not like there's any magic to it.”
The organization the city hires will be tasked with getting signatures of 10% of the voters who actually voted in the last municipal election. Wyatt said he had spoken with three organizations about “doing the legwork” of getting the requisite signatures on petitions.
“One of those is probably, in my opinion, certainly the cheapest and the best option,” Wyatt said. “Because it's an election year, it's gonna cost about $15,000 to do it.”
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky, left, and Council President Alex Wyatt participate in a meeting of the council's Finance Committee on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.
The Finance Committee sent the matter to the full council with a recommendation to proceed with the petition. The council president said timing is a factor because the referendum must be done within 40 to 90 days of the petition being certified by the probate court.
“My only concern here is that that may put us in the middle of summer when people aren't around as much,” he said. “If we do end up in that period, we may want to hold off a little bit and put it in August to let everyone get back in town. I think this is an important vote, and certainly we want people to be able to go out and vote on this issue.”
The Finance Committee also heard a presentation from Amy Weis, executive director of the Miss Sims Garden Foundation. Sims Garden is a pocket garden in the Edgewood neighborhood of Homewood. It is the legacy of Catherine Anville Sims, known as the plant lady.
In her will, she deeded her property to the city of Homewood, with the stipulation that it be maintained as a botanical park.
Weiss reminded the committee that money she seeks from the city “is an investment in a property you own.”
The Finance committee also recommended paying for the installation of street lights at Waverly Drive, Avalon Road and the entrance to the Browning Walls neighborhood. Those lights, which were later approved by the Public Safety Committee, will cost $122 per year for each light.
The Special Issues Committee recommended that Peak Athletics be allowed to use the Plaza to host its Vulcan Vault Competition in July. Event organizers received permission from police to use a portion of the street in front of the Plaza.
The committee also heard a request for a sign variance at 2732 Central Ave. at the former Huffstutler Building. The applicant is asking that the sign on the front of the building extend around the corner to the side. A public hearing for the request likely will be set for March 11 at the full council meeting on Monday.
Image courtesy of city of Homewo
This image shows what a proposed sign would look like at the former Huffstutler Building at 2732 Central Ave. in Homewood, Alabama. The owner of the building is asking for a sign variance to allow the sign to be on the front and the side of the building.
The Planning and Development Committee again heard a rezoning request for the former Second Presbyterian Church property at 1300 Columbiana Road. Having heard the concerns of residents at a public hearing weeks ago, the applicant amended the request to seek a rezoning of part of the property from an I-2 industrial district to a C-1 office building district.
The plan is to build an 11,000-square-foot, single-story medical office building, which is smaller than then original request. The southern portion of the property, presently occupied by the church, will remain I-2. The request was sent to the full council without a recommendation, pending another public hearing.
