Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Jody Brant, left, and Tray Ivey
Jody Brant, left, and Tray Ivey present findings from their table discussion about Homewood’s comprehensive plan on Jan. 29.
What can Homewood be in its next 100 years, or at least its next two decades?
A municipality with underground utilities? A city with quaint trolleys for leisurely commutes across its eight square miles? Perhaps a college town that identifies even more with Samford University on Lakeshore Drive?
And what will become of the long-vacant, school board-owned property east of Homewood Middle School on Valley Avenue?
Some of these questions and others will be answered as residents and city leaders ponder Homewood’s future in the creation of a comprehensive plan for the city. A room full of residents assembled in the council chamber of city hall on the evening of Jan. 26 to connect the dots to their desired future for their city.
The dots — blue for places of opportunity, red where improvement is needed and green for places they love — were placed on maps of the eight-square-mile city. Organizers said this is a critical step to plotting a course for Homewood’s future through a new comprehensive plan.
Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Residents engage in roundtable discussions to give input for Homewood’s comprehensive plan.
Residents engage in roundtable discussions to give input for Homewood’s comprehensive plan.
The comprehensive plan is a long-term planning effort that will guide decisions across the city for the next 20 years and beyond. The plan will focus on Homewood’s neighborhoods, growth and priorities, helping shape short-, medium- and long-term projects and guide both public and private investment.
Brian Wright and Matt Noonkester led the discussion and are tasked with creating Homewood’s roadmap to the future. Wright is the founding principal of Town Planning & Urban Design Collaborative; Noonkester is principal of City Explained.
“Nothing has been decided,” Wright told the crowd. “You’re on the ground floor.”
“We start out our process by listening, starting with today and some of the meetings we’ve had leading up to today,” Noonkester said. “We really just want to have all the information come at us. And while I can conveniently collect data and documents, it’s the stories around that [data that are] really important to me. That’s what the engagement is all about — for me to catch up to what it’s like to be living, working, visiting Homewood.”
Elliot Pike said he didn’t come to the work session with an agenda.
Kyle Parmley
The Homewood school board-owned vacant lot on Valley Avenue next to Homewood Middle School.
The Homewood school board-owned vacant lot on Valley Avenue next to Homewood Middle School.
“I really came to kind of listen,” the Edgewood resident said. “I’ve never been part of something like this. I just came to listen — see how it works. If there’s something that I feel strongly about, I’ll certainly voice my opinion. But I didn’t come with any specific agenda — just to be part of it and participate where I need to.”
Several themes were repeated as 10 groups of residents presented the results of their roundtable discussions. Among those were the former Brookwood Mall, the relationship between the city and Samford University, the Board of Education property along Valley Avenue, underground utilities and redevelopment of the Rosedale Community.
“Rosedale is a nut we’ve been trying to crack for a long time,” Beverly LeBoeuf said.
Edgewood’s Jay Bagwell broached the idea of bringing back trolleys from yesteryear.
“I thought it would be cool,” he said. “It would be a revolving trolley, or a bus that looks like a trolley.”
Melinda Williams urged the facilitators to gather broad input from citizens, put that in their draft and then “really listen to it before they make their recommendations.” She cited Homewood’s downtown rezoning project as an example of what not to do.
“When they came back with their downtown zoning plan, it was clear that they either ignored or hadn’t read the content from the … plan because they, time and time again, suggested things that nobody wanted,” Williams said.
Wright said they will avoid that pitfall.
“Most of all, what we do here has to be the essence of Homewood,” Wright said. “It can’t be something we did somewhere else, even if we were working in the next town over.”
Another work session was on Jan. 27 at the Homewood Senior Center in Homewood. Additional sessions are scheduled in the city’s four wards, but any resident can attend any ward meetings. The final plan is expected to be completed around winter/spring of 2027.
