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Council votes to postpone Cahaba Heights mixed-use development decision

by

Emily Featherston

Emily Featherston

The Vestavia Hills City Council voted Oct. 26 to postpone a vote on rezoning lots on Dolly Ridge Road and Oakview Lane for a mixed-use building to Dec. 14, with a new first-reading on Nov. 23. 

Due to a vocal crowd at the September planning commission meeting, Mayor Butch Zaragoza opened the meeting by explaining the process the proposal had to take to get to the council. He said the council has not commented on the proposal in the past because "the process requires the city council to keep an open mind until they've considered all the facts."

Zaragoza also explained to the audience how the meeting would progress and said rowdy behavior, such as "cat-calls, clapping or hoo-rahs," would not be tolerated.

The posteponement decision came after developers elected to amend their proposal to remove the conditional use request for a four-story building, and conform with the regular B-1.2 zoning regulation.

Steven Hydinger of BREC Development said the revised plan would aim to stay within the B-1.2 regulations by reducing the size of the development to a maximum of 35 feet, or three stories.

The amendment will be presented to City Clerk Rebecca Leavings.

However, if Leavings and the planning and zoning staff decide that the amendment is a “substantial change” to the proposed rezoning ordinance, the ordinance will have to go back through the processes of the planning and zoning commission before it can come before the council for a final vote.

Hydinger said the group understood this was a possiblility.

Four council members voted in favor of postponing, with council member George Pierce abstaining. Pierce said he would be abstaining at the beginning of the meeting because of a conflict of interest resulting from his personal employment.

Members of the Cahaba Heights Community Foundation were present at the meeting and spoke to the council during the citizen comments period.

During the citizen's comment period, Zaragoza responded to comments from Jenny Lysinger about Superintendent Sheila Phillips's statement on the development, and the rumors he said he thinks are associated with it.

Zaragoza said there have been meetings with Phillips to discuss the impact of city business on the school system.

“We went over everything that we are doing in this city. We asked the question, 'will it have an impact on our schools.' The answer that we got back was no,” he said.

Zaragoza went on to say that he resents that the council members have been called "crooks" and "greedy," and that it is detrimental for the council to hear that.

Lane Brown said the Cahaba Heights group had hoped to have a final answer on the matter after the meeting, but will continue their efforts as the process continues. She said that now, the group will look to petition the council to have the B-1.2 zoning ordinances tightened.

“It’s one of the most loosely written zoning ordinances in the books,” Brown said. She said their goal would be to re-write the ordinances so that even if Hydinger and BREC make changes to their proposal, it still wouldn’t fit.

In his comments to the council, Hydinger said he and his firm are trying to realize the ideals of the Vestavia Hills Master Plan, but that he understands the citizen’s concerns.

“I’m a father, I have young kids, I take safety very seriously,” Hydinger said.

Mayor Butch Zaragoza encouraged those in attendance to contact their city council representative if they had specific questions or comments.

"The process works, if you'll give it an opportunity," Zaragoza said.  

Other council business included:

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