City to consider tree ordinance, changes to bus routes

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In addition to ongoing budget hearings, the Homewood City Council's committee meetings on Sept. 17 tackled two new ordinances, changes to its bus system and the potential sale of a property for a new restaurant on Green Springs.

Anthony Renta of Renta Urban Land Design briefly presented details of a new tree and landscape ordinance, which he has been working on with the Homewood Environmental Commission, to the Special Issues Committee.

Renta said the ordinance started as a tree preservation effort but has developed into defining landscaping requirements for new developments around Homewood in a way that is enforceable. This will include requirements that anyone pulling construction permits must have a completed landscape plan that city officials can approve before permits are granted.

The ordinance includes encouragements for developers to plant native trees rather than invasive or non-native species, Renta said. Developers can still present hardship cases if they don't meet landscaping and greenery requirements to ask for a variance, he said. Existing properties that are currently out of compliance would have to meet the ordinance's requirements in the future if they did significant construction work.

Renta said most of the ordinance would be enforced through city staff rather than the Planning Commission or Board of Zoning Enforcements, which would take less time and would help in cases where a tree must be removed due to hazardous conditions.

However, because the new tree ordinance is still a change to the city zoning book, it must be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the BZA for approval. The Special Issues Committee referred it to the Planning Commission.

The Public Safety Committee is continuing to talk about the addition of an ordinance that would regulate food truck operations in the city, after issues with food trucks not complying with county health codes and erecting semi-permanent structures.

City Attorney Mike Kendrick is going to draft an ordinance for the committee to review, which would set certain hours of operation and require food trucks to meet all health regulations set by the county, as well as restrictions on structures like decks or tents that could be set up. The ordinance would likely put the responsibility on both the food trucks and the owners of the properties where they set up, so both could be punished for failure to comply.

The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority was the talk of the evening, both in the Finance Committee's budget hearing and the Special Issues Committee meeting. Disputes over Homewood's contribution to the BJCTA, its representation on the transit authority's board and the services it receives have been a recurring issue since late 2014.

Ward 1 Rep. Britt Thames and Ward 4 Rep. Barry Smith have recently had several discussions with new BJCTA representatives that have led to optimism from the council that Homewood can renegotiate its service. At the meeting, BJCTA Director of Planning and Development Joshua Johnson and planner Thomas Yuill said they were willing to work within Homewood's budget to create the maximum possible service hours.

The City Council intends to cut bus route 39, which travels from downtown through Edgewood to the Wildwood shopping center, and add the Wildwood Walmart stop to route 14, which travels Oxmoor Road and the Palisades area in addition to Birmingham neighborhoods on the other side of Red Mountain. The city would keep route 42, which passes through 18th Street and U.S. 31 to Brookwood Medical Center.

With this reduction in service hours in the city and a rate that the BJCTA agreed to reduce from $73.74 to $54.19 per service hour in the city, Thames estimated that the city could meet its bus needs with $208,251 for the 2019 fiscal year.

Johnson said the BJCTA is also interested in finding a workable way to revive the idea of a Homewood circulator route, which would mostly travel Lakeshore Drive with stops at Walmart, Samford University, Brookwood Village and Target. 

Smith said the city will have the BJCTA return for a work session to nail down details of the amendments to Homewood's bus service.

“This is like music to me," Ward 5 Rep. Peter Wright said, recalling previous years' failure to make satisfactory changes to the service. “We would love to have a transit system that works with other municipalities and grows, but first we have to rein it in to control what’s going on in here.”

The council is also going to weigh an offer to purchase city-owned property at 431 Green Springs Highway for the construction of a Jack's or similar restaurant or retail development.

The Finance Committee has received an offer for $160,000 for the property, and developer Will Akin said the due diligence period is underway to purchase the more expensive property next to it, which faces Green Springs Highway, and to obtain an easement for rear access to the property from Covenant Classical School.

Akin said he has existing agreements with Jack's restaurant chain and, if the city sells the property, would have enough space to build that or a similar fast casual, national chain and provide adequate parking. If the city does not sell, Akin said he will consider a smaller commercial development for the lot facing the street.

Committee members expressed concerns about the lack of a commitment for the use of the property, with Wright saying previous developments on Green Springs have not turned out as well as the council originally believed they would be. However, the developers expressed willingness to amend the contract to restrict uses on the property in favor of a restaurant or retail, not uses like vape shops or car washes that some would consider "noxious."

The developers will work with Kendrick to modify the sales contract, which will be considered by the council at its full meeting on Sept. 24.

Homewood City Schools Superintendent Bill Cleveland also gave the Finance Committee a construction update.

Cleveland said the first of two phases of work at the elementary schools was completed over the summer, with the second package — including lunchroom expansion at Edgewood, roof work at Hall-Kent and classroom additions at both — wrapping up in the 2020-21 school year.

Demolition is complete at Homewood High School and construction will be underway through January 2020 to complete the two-story addition on the north side of the school. Work on the Waldrop Stadium track surface is also underway and has taken longer to complete since the asphalt had to be redone.

The projected cost of the work at HHS came in at $29.5 million, Cleveland said, surpassing their original estimate of $23 million. Cleveland said this additional cost came from extra work to be done on the school's chillers and expansion of the fine arts wing to accommodate the size of the Homewood Patriot band. This expansion extends the wing into the floodplain, causing extra work to be needed on the foundation.

However, Cleveland said revenue for the school system has been strong and if the total cost of the work at the schools exceeds the $55 million given by the city, the school system will pay for it without asking for additional funds.

Cleveland said this year's kindergarten class exceeded the demographic projections the school system received as part of its planning process, so the school system will be looking at ways to optimize the new and existing spaces, as well as new teachers, for future enrollment growth.