Council, residents want tougher restrictions on Samford property purchases

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Members of the Homewood City Council's planning and development committee and a crowd of Homewood residents agreed Monday night that a new agreement with Samford University regarding residential property purchases should have more restrictions and a longer time limit.

The committee first heard from Samford Executive Vice President Buck Brock on July 1 with an agreement, which would replace the 2011 property purchase moratorium that expired last year. The agreement would limit the university to purchasing property only contiguous to its campus on the north and west sides, and it would set a five-year prohibition on rezoning requests.

Committee members had concerns over the maintenance and use of Samford's houses along Saulter Road and Windsor Boulevard, impact on the neighborhood and potential future expansion.

At a community meeting held on July 14, Ward 4 Councilor Alex Wyatt said the primary resident concerns he heard were about the geographic limits, the five-year timeframe and the fact that Samford is exempted from some taxes as an education institution. Most of the homes Samford owns are used for faculty and staff housing, which brings the possibility of families using the school system, trash pickup and emergency services without paying into their tax funding.

Wyatt said the agreement's geographic limit, though intended to put a cap on Samford's expansion, caused concern from homeowners that properties within those areas would be unfairly targeted for purchase. The limits originally proposed were properties contiguous to the university's north boundary (along Saulter Road and Windsor Boulevard), Cornelius Drive, Currie Way and along Lakeshore Drive between the western end of the campus and 330 Lakeshore Drive.

The property tax exemption is regulated at a state and federal level, Wyatt said. Later in the July 15 meeting, Brock said the university does pay taxes on at least four of its residential properties.

The changes to the agreement proposed by the planning and development committee on Monday included:

  • Removing any geographic limits
  • A prohibition of housing students in any purchased properties, and a clearer definition of "student employees" who use Samford-owned homes and their vetting process
  • Lengthening the agreement from five to nine years, putting discussion of a new agreement just after the 2028 City Council election
  • Prohibiting the university from building a north entrance to the campus from Saulter Road
  • A proposal for the city to buy back a piece of property at Saulter and South Wellington to build and maintain a pocket park, or for Samford to retain ownership and build the park
  • A regular review of the condition of the properties to make sure they meet all Homewood codes related to maintenance and appearance.
  • A requirement that Samford abide by Homewood's tree ordinance in any removal or trimming of trees
  • Offsetting the lack of property tax revenue with a payment in lieu, such as an annual donation to the Homewood City Schools Foundation and providing services for Homewood police and fire employees

Ward 5 Councilor Jennifer Andress also asked that the city receive a report on all of the properties contiguous to Samford and their ownership, current condition and any owed taxes.

The committee asked Finance Director Robert Burgett to identify the properties and taxes that should be going to the schools.

The aesthetics of Samford-owned homes and their neighborhood impact was a sore spot for committee members, as many said Samford isn't doing enough now to meet standards of appearance and continue improving the properties.

Ward 1 Councilor Andy Gwaltney said neighbors' home values have an "artificial ceiling" by being next to homes that are not kept up.

“It’s sad that we can’t have a better neighbor,” Gwaltney said.

Ward 2 Councilor Andrew Wolverton said Samford should be willing to make more concessions and commitments about the future use of the property since the university has said there are no plans to change the residential homes' use in its 20-year master plan.

The university's pattern of purchasing homes and not keeping up maintenance, Ward 3 Councilor Walter Jones said, indicated to him that, despite the goals outlined in their master plan, the university may have plans to replace those homes with other uses in the future.

“That’s clear to me that you’re going to expand to the west,” Jones said, adding that property maintenance was an issue when the last moratorium was put in place in 2011.

In response to these concerns and requested changes, Brock said the university is “being as transparent as we possibly can about what our intentions are” for its homes and that the city has control over future rezoning requests.

He also said the university has made no new property purchases since the moratorium expired last year, despite at least two homes in the area going up for sale.

“We’re not out there aggressively trying to buy properties,” Brock said. 

In response to the proposed agreement changes from the committee, Brock said:

  • He had no problem with striking the geographic limits, though he said that likely would not change the areas that Samford was interested in purchasing. Many employees living in the homes are new faculty or on-call staff who need to be close to campus, making contiguous properties more desirable
  • Regular students would not live in the houses, and student employees are vetted based on their grades, conduct and involvement on campus
  • He was willing to extend the agreement up to seven years like the 2011 moratorium, but he felt nine years was too long. Brock also said he was fine with extending the prohibition of rezoning residential parcels, though not the university as a whole due to future on-campus projects
  • The university has no desire to build a north entrance beyond the fire/emergency access already in place, as they would have to add more gate security
  • Rather than selling a property to the city for a pocket park, he proposed a 50- or 100-year lease of the land “tantamount to ownership.” While committee members had a preference for owning the land before improving it, Brock said a similar lease enabled the city to build part of the Shades Creek Greenway on Samford property
  • The university is already trying to keep properties up to city codes and will continue
  • While he agreed property tax revenue was a concern, Brock pointed out Samford's existing contributions to the school system, including hosting events, providing extra parking during the high school's construction work and a new five-year commitment to provide office space to the Schools Foundation's campaign director

Brock said after Sunday's community meeting, he drove around Samford's properties to look at their condition. Most of the houses in bad shape along those roads were privately-owned, not Samford property, he said.

However, he said the university would be willing to take council members on a tour to point out any areas of needed improvement.

Ward 5 Councilor Peter Wright encouraged Brock that Samford should commit beyond just keeping its homes at city standards and go above and beyond, which would improve their own property value and appearance in the community, as well as bring up the rest of the neighborhood. This brought agreement from many of the residents watching the discussion.

Brock also noted that part of his reluctance for a longer-term agreement is that the university's master plan is just a "road map" that can be changed if priorities shift, while the agreement is binding.

In addition to these topics, Brock said Samford's Vice President Randy Pittman will act as a liaison for residents to address concerns. Pittman can be reached at rpittman@samford.edu or 726-2331.

Wyatt said the committee will review its proposed changes and the comments from residents and Brock, with plans to bring an updated draft to the next committee meeting on Aug. 5.

Also on July 15, the council's finance committee discussed purchase of a property on Green Springs Avenue for a future new fire station. The property, which currently houses a small cinderblock building just south of the Publix shopping center, would cost $575,000.

The city is currently in the due diligence process and will close by Sept. 1 if all inspections turn out well. Jones said a new station would be built there to replace Station 2, on Carr Avenue.