An ending in sight

No one ever said it would happen quickly.

Although two leaders critical to launching the redevelopment project for U.S. 31 are no longer attached, progress on a code to govern development on the corridor has continued under new guidance. And, while it was difficult for residents to see tangible results in 2013, proof of the plan’s existence is beginning to circulate. 

Notably, designs for the new Vestavia Hills City Hall have been revealed. 

“Our goal is to break ground in March, begin construction in May and be in it by August 2015,” Mayor Alberto “Butch” Zaragoza said of the new facility, which administration is considering a launch point for the highway’s new identity through Vestavia Hills.

The new City Hall, which will be constructed on the former Food World and Joe’s Ranch House site on U.S. 31, will be approximately 60,000 square feet and will rest on 3.6 acres. Its main components include a City Council chamber and courtroom that each seat 120 people and offices to comfortably house city departments.

While exciting, it’s just the beginning.

The plan to redevelop U.S. 31 was written in 2011 by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) and approved by the Vestavia Hills City Council in 2012. It calls for redeveloping four areas of the corridor — Vestavia Plaza Shopping Center, Olde Towne Shopping Center, Park South Shopping Center and Patton Creek Crossing — to pedestrian-oriented communities.

In the coming months, the first steps in transforming the U.S. 31 corridor will begin:

• A major landscaping project at the intersection of U.S. 31 and Interstate 65 in the next six months. 

• Construction of a new City Hall in the next 12 to 18 months.

• Two possible major redevelopment efforts on private property in the next two years.

 “Highway 31 has existed and grown over the years with very little planning,” City Manager Jeff Downes said. “Between I-65 and Shades Crest Road, it basically grew because there was a need to place retail along a corridor, but there wasn’t a master plan or end goal in mind.”

That need for consistency was the reason Vestavia Hills turned to the Atlanta-based firm Market Street to study the corridor, and later to RPCGB to come up with a new design. It’s also one of the reasons the city hired Fred Baughman as economic developer and Conrad Garrison as city planner.

Downes, a former deputy mayor for the city of Montgomery, started work in Vestavia Hills in July 2013. Shortly after, he released Baughman, reporting he wanted to repurpose the position.

Philip Amthor, RPCGB’s lead on the project when the plan was written, has since left the organization as well, leaving only Garrison from the original team.

Since the council approved RPCGB’s plan — and its 15-year timeline — Garrison has been working on the next big piece of the puzzle, the form-based code. In the summer of 2013 he said he anticipated the code would require nine to 12 months to write. He currently projects it will be completed on schedule by this summer.

Form-based codes are one of three main strategies presented by RPCGB, and arguably the most important. They replace the city’s current land-use and zoning regulations and will “introduce the possibility for new uses, activities and building densities,” according to the plan.

“The idea is to create a quality environment with a tax base that will keep generating revenues for the city in the long term,” said Renato Ghizoni, a planner with the RPCGB.

The code would offer a structure for future development on the corridor that’s both predictable and visionary. Ghizoni said it allows for change by focusing on the type of development instead of the use, adding that it would be flexible for different land uses.

“Over time, these parcels of property along typical corridors tend to decline and die out,” Ghizoni added. “From the city’s perspective, that leads to lower tax revenues. For residents, that means a lower quality of life.”

So together, Ghizoni and Garrison are focusing on a coordinated rollout of the comprehensive plan, which will include the form-based code.

 “We want to make sure that we have everything tightened up and in line, so that there’s not a lot of unpredictability,” Garrison said. “Predictability is really the name of the game when it comes to development.”

The corridor is not hurting economically in comparison to some sections of the greater Birmingham area. “But they [Vestavia Hills] see that if they don’t do anything now, in 10 years it’s only going to get worse,” Ghizoni said.

Elsewhere, Downes is employing ideas he’s had success with in the past.

His idea was to use the money allocated for an economic developer to assemble a collaborative, flexible team of residents and members of the city’s business community, including the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, current retailers and local real estate brokers. 

“We have to be flexible, we have to be creative and we have to show the development community and the realty community that we’re in the game,” Downes said. “If there are hurdles to those businesses coming to Vestavia Hills, we will identify what those hurdles are and we’ll try to resolve them.”

Garrison said the process has not been hindered by the departures of Baughman and Amthor, adding that the city’s current retailers are “excellent,” but Vestavia Hills also sees more opportunity for success.

“What this ideally will do is bring a little more balance to the equation,” he said. “I don’t think Vestavia needs reinventing, but there could be some retail realignment based on our demographics.”

Karen Odle, president of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber is working alongside the city in its efforts to create a mix of old and new retailers. 

“The city is working on recruiting new businesses, and we’re working to retain existing businesses,” Odle said.

Far from only increasing tax revenues and bringing a new look to the corridor, Ghizoni said implementing changes in the plans is also about the long-term health of Vestavia Hills.

“If nothing happens, given the slow recovery of the economy, it’s only going to remain the same or go into decline over time,” he said.

Downes said the plan is ambitious and will take years. 

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” he said. “This is a lifetime commitment to a certain style of development.”