Council closes on Green Springs property for fire station

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The Homewood City Council has completed its due diligence to buy a piece of property on Green Springs Highway for the future site of a new Fire Station 2.

At its Aug. 12 meeting, the Council approved $580,000 to close on the land, located between the Publix shopping center and Taipei 101. 

Fire Station 2 is currently located on Carr Avenue and will remain open until the new building is constructed.

Also on Aug. 12, Mayor Scott McBrayer said he plans to give his initial presentation of the 2019-20 fiscal year budget proposal at the Aug. 26 meeting. This presentation will give an overview of expected revenues and expenditures, including major capital projects, and the Council will set a series of budget meetings to work on the budget in greater detail. The budget must be approved before the fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

The Aug. 26 meeting will additionally include consideration of a nine-year agreement between Samford and the city on residential property purchases, and a rezoning request at 3021 Firefighter Lane.

The property is currently zoned for R-5 Attached Dwelling Unit District and the owner wants to rezone to R-4, which is also for attached homes but does allow single-family homes. The property owner wants to redevelop one home on the property and build one new home.

Ward 1 Councilor Britt Thames said in the Aug. 5 planning and development committee discussion of the proposal that the owner has proffered to build the homes in compliance with all Neighborhood Preservation District (NPD) regulations.

The council also:

  • Changed some of its upcoming meeting dates to: Oct. 7 and 21, Nov. 4 and 18 and Dec. 9 and 16.
  • Approved $40,000 to build a sidewalk between Central Avenue and Creative Montessori School. The project was moved up the priority list because the school had ongoing landscaping work and the sidewalk would be easier to do at the same time.
  • Approved a change to its stormwater regulations so properties of any size must comply with the codes regulating runoff control and sediment, rather than just properties over 1 acre.
  • Approved grading work on the edge of the Fox property, which borders the future Phase II of the Shades Creek Greenway near Wildwood. The grading will be a landscaped slope rather than a retaining wall, after Goodwyn Mills Cawood approved that it would not cause runoff problems.
  • Approved the owners of 507 Morris Boulevard to work in the city right-of-way to pave part of the back alley by their home.
  • Approved the owners of 228 Crest Drive to work in the city right-of-way to install a parking pad. The work was already completed before the owners realized they needed city approval.
  • Approved alcohol licenses for Yummy Bowl, 109 Wildwood Parkway, and Tortas Locas, 44 Green Springs Highway. Ward 2 Councilor Andrew Wolverton abstained from the vote on Yummy Bowl.
  • Declared three sanitation and fleet maintenance trucks as surplus.
  • Sent the Homewood Environmental Commission's $12,436 budget request for the 2019-20 fiscal year to the budget hearings for consideration. The request includes funds for residential and Shades Creek Greenway tree plantings, community education events, the tree inventory project and marketing.
  • Set an Aug. 26 public hearing for a fence variance request at 1604 Roseland Drive.