Photo by Jacob Cole
Homewood City Council
The Homewood City Council's Planning and Development Committee met Monday, Dec. 2, to discuss the Heart of Homewood Downtown Master Plan.
A plan for the rezoning of downtown Homewood that has attracted its share of controversy in recent weeks took one step closer to a vote by the City Council at a meeting of the Council’s Planning and Development Committee on Monday, Dec. 2, at City Hall.
Committee members voted 5-0 to send the plan — along with a few changes suggested recently by Placemakers, the consulting firm that helped craft the new zoning — to the full council.
The committee, which is chaired by Ward 1 Councilor Britt Thames, sent the plan to the council without a recommendation as to whether the zoning should be approved.
However, according to Thames and Council President Peter Wright, the committee vote was necessary in order for the council to take up the matter and hold a previously scheduled public hearing on Monday, Dec. 9.
The other members of the Planning and Development Committee are councilors Alex Wyatt, Andrew Wolverton, Jennifer Andress and Walter Jones.
The committee meeting, held in a conference room near the Council Chambers, was heavily attended. At least 100 city residents crammed into the room, and about 10 of them signed up to speak.
Most of the speakers expressed their problems with the plan, including concerns about parking and a fear that the plan could lead to downtown Homewood — including the shopping corridor along 18th Street — losing its small-town character.
Some of the members of the Planning and Development Committee, particularly Thames and Andress, attempted to address those concerns.
Lindsey Puckett from the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham was in attendance. Susan Henderson from Placemakers was available on speaker phone during the meeting.
The RPCGB and Placemakers helped the city craft its master plan, as well as the proposed zoning changes.
Placemakers has suggested about five minor changes to the proposed zoning in response to some public comments at a Homewood Planning Commission hearing held Nov. 12
For example, Placemakers has recommended the addition of minimum parking requirements appropriate to downtown. This is because parking — according to Henderson —was perhaps the single biggest concern raised at that hearing.
To see all the suggested changes, go to heartofhomewoodplan.com and click on “November 18 memo from Placemakers LLC.”
Planning Commission
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Homewood Planning Commission voted 6-0 to move its own public hearing on the zoning changes from Dec. 3 to Tuesday, Jan. 7. This is to give the City Council time to take action on the zoning plan.
The commission’s public hearing will be to amend the future land use map from the master plan to align with the new downtown zoning, should the council approve the plan.
On Nov. 12, the Homewood Planning Commission voted 3-2 with one abstention to send the zoning plan to the council with a favorable recommendation.
Community Reporter Jacob Cole contributed to this story.