Future of former Altadena Valley Country Club rests in the hands of new city council

Everything in city government takes time.

That is City Manager Jeff Downes’ reminder for residents as they watch and consider what will happen to the former Altadena Valley Country Club property off Acton Road.

Since the city annexed and rezoned the former golf and country club last September, there have been countless conversations, multiple public forums and a handful of official council actions, but so far, the park still sits in much the same condition as it did when it was only part of unincorporated Jefferson County.

In April, the council added $24,000 to the city’s lawn-maintenance budget in order to maintain the grass on the property, and it made sure to have police occasionally drive by the property to keep vandals at bay.

The most recent progress in the project came when the Hoover City Council approved the rezoning of a lot farther down Acton Road that would allow Vestavia Hills to build a new entrance at the western end of the park. 

Hoover passed the measure on Sept. 6, clearing the way for Lot No. 7 of International Park to be turned into a public road.

The western entrance would address the dangerous current entrance to the property that several residents and some city employees brought up as a concern when the land was purchased. 

However, though the path is open to finally continue the design phase, Downes said the turnover on the city council from the August election puts the project in a “Catch-22” type situation.

In order to guarantee the park will be built, you need to build the road, but to justify building and spending money on the road, the park getting built needs to be guaranteed.

With four new council members taking office in November, Downes said the project is effectively on hold until the new council deems it a priority, if it does at all.

Downes said there are several projects underway that either cannot be stopped or that have no reason to be stopped. Others, like the Altadena Valley project, may need to wait.

“The priorities of this city are dictated by the mayor and the elected officials,” he said.

He said in his role as city manager he already has been going through the process of bringing the incoming council up to speed on the city’s current projects and what projects are on the horizon.

“They will ultimately make decisions about these priorities,” he said.

Should the new mayor and council decide the Altadena Valley project is worth pursuing, Downes said the project will continue through the regular development process.

“Hoover has allowed for there to be an approval of the plan that then can turn into construction documents, those construction documents turn into bid documents, and then bid documents turn into a price, and then the price turns into a decision,” he said.