Image from West Homewood District Form-Based Code
West Homewood District rezoning
West Homewood District zoning
A proposed development of six townhomes on Raleigh Avenue has prompted West Homewood residents to ask their city council representatives to reconsider some of the zoning codes for their neighborhood.
The West Homewood District zoning is meant to regulate new developments along Oak Grove Road for urban design, mixed uses and walkability. On June 3, Ward 2 Councilor Andrew Wolverton told the council's planning and development committee that many residents were unaware that projects like the townhomes are currently allowed under the zoning.
The six two-bedroom townhomes at 100 Raleigh Ave. were discussed at the Planning Commission's May 7 meeting and carried over to the June 4 meeting. Neighbors who came to the meeting said the townhomes don't match the appearance of single-family homes on the street and could cause traffic congestion and impact property values.
Wolverton said he and fellow Ward 2 Councilor Mike Higginbotham have been contacted by many residents to oppose the townhome development and ask if the West Homewood District zoning is meeting the needs of the area.
Wolverton suggested a revamp of the code or at least removing some of the uses that residents oppose. Higginbotham added that he also wants to reconsider having the Planning Commission be the final decision-makers on West Homewood District developments, when in all other zones the council makes the final vote with a recommendation from the Planning Commission.
Ward 1 Councilor Britt Thames said he also doesn't understand why the district's zoning code requires any new development to come before the city, even if it meets all of the codes. Other zonings don't have that requirement except for mixed-use, as each development under that zoning must be approved case-by-case.
The Ward 2 Councilors were asked to come back to the committee with a list of specific changes to they code they would like to consider, and the issue was carried over to the next meeting.
Also on June 3, the finance committee heard its audit for last fiscal year and its mid-year review for the current budget. Both were positive, with accounting firm BMSS giving the city an unmodified opinion on its 2017-18 financial reporting. An unmodified opinion is given after an examination shows no inaccuracies or misstatements in a city's financial records.
City Finance Director Robert Burgett shared the city's mid-year financial review with the committee. He said revenue to the city is up about 10% in total compared to last year at the same time. That increase is mostly due to sales tax revenue increases, but he said lodging tax, business licenses and other revenue sources also increased.
The income from ad valorem property tax grew from $17.3 million last year to $18.8 million this year.
“Revenues are trending in the right direction,” Burgett said.
General fund expenditures are up this budget year to about $52.7 million due to cost-of-living adjustments, health insurance increases for employees and other expenses, but Burgett said revenues still exceed those expenses.
He also noted that the city had a $930,000 surplus at the start of the 2018-19 fiscal year after paying $325,000 in employee bonuses and transferring $1 million to the capital projects fund.
Homewood paid roughly $552,000 in tax incentives to the Target and Bricktop's developments, according to the review. The city also has payments on several bonds, he said.
The city is in compliance with its fiscal policy on most of its risk and rainy day funds, Burgett said, but as of the date of the mid-year review, it did not have the full amount of bond payments, roughly $11.2 million, in its debt service fund. He said this was due to a $6 million debt payment that had been made right before the mid-year review's cut-off date. As of the June 3 meeting, Burgett said additional money was added to the debt service fund and the city is back in compliance with its policy.
The committee voted to accept both reports, which will be sent to the council for approval.
The finance committee also decided to reset a bid opening for tree planting in the city, as one of the interested bidders missed some of the information they needed to submit a bid. The new date will be July 15. Council members will be reviewing the new tree ordinance, recommended by the Planning Commission, for approval.
