Rendering courtesy of city of Homewood.
A rendering of the new Piggly Wiggly planned on U.S. 31 in Homewood, Alabama.
The Homewood Piggly Wiggly moved a step closer to having a new home this week with the city’s Planning Commission Tuesday approving two measures that had twice been postponed.
McConnell White & Terry Realty and Insurance Co. received approval of its final development plan for the proposed redevelopment of a 3.21-acre site centered around the planned construction of a new 27,650-square-foot Piggly Wiggly grocery store behind the CVS Pharmacy on U.S. 31, a new 6,000-square-foot retail building and associated parking, landscaping and other site improvements.
The commission also passed McConnell White & Terry’s application to have the property rezoned from a C-1 office building district to a C-2 neighborhood shopping district. The development planned passed on a 7-2 vote, with Jennifer Andress and Paige Willcutt voting no.
Andress, a Ward 5 City Council member and the council’s representative to the commission, said her no vote on the plan was a stand of solidarity with the businesses on Courtney Drive and the people who live in apartments adjacent to Courtney.
Residents and business owners along Courtney Drive said during the public hearing at a prior planning commission meeting that they are concerned about the proposed location of the loading dock for the new grocery store. The plan calls for the loading dock to be on the south end of the development on the back on the building.
“I love The Pig,” Andress said. “They're a huge part of our community, and I supported the rezoning of that lot. But I just felt like I needed to support the businesses on Courtney and the people who live in the apartments right there as well.”
The councilwoman said there are concerns with noise and parking. Trucks will come through Drake Street and then swing out onto Courtney to the left and then back into the loading dock.
“They did a lot last night [Monday, Oct. 2] to address some of those issues,” Andress said. “They're going to have someone directing the deliveries, somebody out there directing traffic with the deliveries. They're going to have somebody out there directing traffic during school pickup and drop-off.”
There was also a concession to limit deliveries to early in the morning.
Business owners along Courtney Drive sought clarification about parking the CVS drug store had marked for its customers only. It was determined that those parking spaces are within the city right of way, and those signs were removed.
The Piggly Wiggly project now goes to the Homewood City Council for consideration, and it will be directed to the Planning & Development Committee that Andress chairs. The development plan and rezoning then would then go to the full council for a public hearing before a final vote is taken.
