Community expresses concern, disapproval of potential Cahaba Heights development

Around 100 members of the Cahaba Heights community gathered Monday to discuss a potential development near the Vestavia Hills Cahaba Heights Elementary School.

Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes said his goal was to address concerns about the development off of Dolly Ridge Road as well as provide facts about the development, studies completed by the city and the steps which must be taken before the development could be built.

“Understand that there are decisions that have to be made before any development moves forward, of any kind in Cahaba Heights,” Downes said, “and I wanted before we go into the presentation, I want you to understand that process and who makes those decisions.”

The development, between Dolly Ridge Road and Oakview Lane, would require rezoning to a mixed-use property and includes a 150-unit apartment complex and some retail space.

“People have called it the Jeff Downes bait-and-switch, which I will honestly say to you, there is no bait-and-switch,” Downes said. “There has always been the intention of a mixed-use development that had a mixture of some type of retail and some type of residential.”

Steven Hydinger, a managing member of the property’s management company Brec Development, presented the proposed development and said why he believed it would benefit the community. The apartments, he said, would be A-level apartments and attract good tenants. The price range and a requirement for tenants to make at least three times their monthly rent would also keep standards high, he said.

The mix of retail and apartments would allow for connectivity, including sidewalks and on-street parking, Hydinger said.

“You’re looking at roughly 20,000 additional square feet of retail, of stores, shops and restaurants, etcetera, that hopefully you guys and your friends can take advantage of,” Hydinger said.

One aspect of community concern, however, came from a lack of retail space in the proposed development. Community members said a four-story apartment complex with enough room for one or two businesses on the first level was not truly mixed-use. Many attendees said the proposed plan did not fit into the walkable community they wanted Cahaba Heights to become.

“I thought [the meeting] was very well-intended,” said JoAnne Young, a Cahaba Heights resident for 30 years. “People could speak what was on their hearts … and gave opinions on what would be better for our community.”

Young said she would prefer restaurants or shops to be built, along with more sidewalks. In that sort of development, Young said, residents could see a greater benefit.

The development also brought up concerns about crime. Vestavia Hills Police Chief Dan Rary provided statistics on crime in Vestavia Hills as a whole as well as the potential influence of an apartment complex, rather than a development including single-family homes.

“The crime rate in our apartments in Vestavia and in the neighborhoods around all of our apartments, the side of 280 or Liberty Park, is the same as where there is not an apartment or condos,” Rary said.

Hydinger said the apartment complex would also run background checks on potential renters in order to check for past criminal activity. This step would include a check of sexual predators, a group some believe would be attracted to an apartment overlooking a school and park.

One community member said her kids were sitting ducks if a predator moved into the apartment. Young said the location was not ideal for an apartment.

“I want you to understand, we want what’s best for the kids, and that’s not a good choice of location,” Young said.

Downes also addressed the development’s impact on storm water, traffic and the school systems during the meeting. Storm water management would be improved, Downes said, and there would be alterations to roadways in order to accommodate traffic. The school systems would also be benefitted, Downes said, from the money the school system would gain through the ad valorem tax payed by the development. 

Steven Hey said he felt the meeting gave a good idea of the issue at hand. The community is against the development, Hey said, but Downes is supportive of it.

“If he’s supposed to speak for the people, the people spoke and he didn’t listen,” Hey said.

Hey also said he believes many community members will attend Thursday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. The meeting is July 9 at 6 p.m. and will allow time for public comment and questions regarding the proposed development.