Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Councilman Walter Jones wants approval of sign variances to shift from the City Council to the Board of Zoning Adjustment, similarly to was previously done for fences in the city.
Every sign ordinance that came before the Homewood City Council on Monday night had at least one no vote and it didn’t matter what variance the applicant sought.
Walter Jones took a stand on principle.
“It’s just based on the fact that I'm wanting to move the sign ordinance over to the BZA (Board of Zoning Adjustment) and have them handle that,” Jones said. “We have to rewrite that for the BZA for them to be able to have that in their purview. I just believe we have a strong sign ordinance that we put in place but we continue to amend it with every sign request that comes up before the council.
“I just generally believe that the sign item should be going to a different body as opposed to the city council.”
Two of Monday’s three requests for sign variances – by EW at 3125 Independence Drive, Suite 300B and Birmingham Wholesale at 401 West Valley Avenue – were passed on a 7-1 vote with Jones casting the loan no vote. Nick Sims voted against the variance request by Southern Immediate Care at 1944 28th Avenue South that passed 6-2 because of internal illumination, which goes against the standard downtown.
Jones expressed the same stance about sign variances at the Finance Committee meeting on last week. He added Monday that if other councilmembers reached the same opinion, there would not be as many requests for variances to the sign ordinance.
“If we would deny some of them,” he said, “but we're typically not denying them. I'll take responsibility for that too. I've voted for them as well but I just feel like, at this point, I need to start denying and try to work within our current sign ordinance.”
Jones said requests for sign variances can become political as “sometimes you feel like you have pressure by a certain business – 'I want this sign variance' – and it becomes not just looking at the ordinance, but, 'Hey, we really want this sign. It's bigger. It's just a little bigger.' It just becomes a little bit political.”
Jones, who chaired Monday’s meeting, said the BZA would have to change its bylaws to place sign variances within its purview.
“We did that with fences,” the councilman said. “The council used to handle all fence variances. I wanted to move that out (as a council responsibility) and we were able to move that out. I want to do the same thing with signs.”
Public hearings were set for May 20 for requests for sign variances by Rob’e Mans Automotive Service at 2600 18th Street South, Rob’e Mans Automotive Service at 2630 18th Street South and Morgan Stanley at 740 Shades Creek Parkway.
In other business the council accepted the recommendation of newly appointed Fire Chief Brandon Broadhead to award the fire facilities maintenance contract to Compass Fire. The company was deemed to be the lowest responsible bidder for the city contract for its bid of $16,660 per year and a three-year total of $49,980.
Broadhead said the contract includes fire sprinkler systems like those at City Hall, all city buildings except for the old police department, all fire extinguishers, hood systems – anywhere there is a commercial hood system – and monitoring for all city buildings.
“This does not include service repairs,” the chief said, “but it does have a quoted rate for service repairs on a per hour rate.”
The council approved a budget amendment for fiscal year 2023-2024 for Public Works’ vehicle maintenance and natural gas. It is a transfer of $34,000 from the carryover fund balance for vehicle maintenance and a transfer of $750 from travel and conference to the natural gas line item.
The panel authorized the mayor to sign an agreement with Verizon Wireless. It also approved a fiscal year 2023-2024 budget amendment
The council approved a budget transfer for the Fleet Department, moving $1,500 from memberships and subscriptions and then another $1,500 from tuitions for a total of $3,000 for fleet maintenance.
The council passed a couple of actions to aid pedestrian traffic on Oxmoor Road on either side of Trinity United Methodist Church. The recommended actions bring some street crossings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On the Seminole Street side, the city is adding ADA compliant ramps along with a crosswalk that goes across Seminole. On the opposite side, the city is adding one ADA compliant ramp on East Linwood; there is already one on the east side of that intersection.
Additionally, the council expanded approved a signalized pedestrian crosswalk with flashing lights across Oxmoor from East Linwood to Seminole.
The council filled the following board vacancies:
- Ward 1 Beautification Board: Mary Kate Kearney
- Ward 4 Park Board: Joe Leavens.
- Ward 4 Library Board: Megan Cheek.
Assistant City Clerk Bo Seagrist presented and the council approved a resolution to change the names of approved signers on the Truist account.
As the meeting neared its end, Nick Sims moved that the council go into executive session. City Attorney Mike Kendrick said he was unaware of the subject to be discussed; when told that it concerned a matter of possible litigation, Kendrick told the council that it could only talk about that matter.
After 20 minutes, the regular session reconvened and Jones dismissed the meeting with no other action taking place.
