Vestavia Hills postpones decision on Rocky Ridge entertainment district

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The Vestavia Hills City Council tonight postponed a decision on whether to create the city’s first entertainment district but amended the proposed ordinance to limit the hours the district would be in effect.

A new state law that passed this year allows the cities of Hoover and Vestavia Hills to create up to three special entertainment districts in which people can legally consume alcohol in open containers outside licensed restaurants or bars.

The entertainment districts must contain at least four establishments that serve alcoholic beverages and be in an area no larger than a half-mile by a half-mile, Vestavia Hills Mayor Butch Zaragoza said.

The idea is to make it easier to have festivals and special events with outdoor alcohol consumption in Vestavia Hills, Zaragoza said.

Previously, it sometimes took months to get approval from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for special outdoor events, Councilman Steve Ammons said. This will allow people to plan such events at the drop of a hat, Ammons said.

City leaders identified the Rocky Ridge business district in the area of Rocky Ridge Road and Morgan Drive as the first proposed entertainment district for Vestavia Hills and were scheduled to vote on its creation tonight. However, the council decided to postpone the vote until the Oct. 12 council meeting after adjusting the hours in which the proposed entertainment district would be in effect.

Originally, the Rocky Ridge entertainment district special open container rules would be in effect from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., but council members voted tonight to change the proposed hours to noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Zaragoza said some people have misinterpreted the intent of the entertainment district, accusing city leaders of wanting to change the law up so that “everybody can booze it up and have a good time.”

“That’s not what we’re looking for,” he said.

They just want to encourage people to have events in Vestavia Hills rather than going outside the city for fun festivals, he said. The business community also expressed a desire for it, he said.

Some people have accused him of being greedy and trying to find money for the city anyway he can, but he’s just trying to improve the city, he said.

Vestavia Hills is no longer a small town, Zaragoza said. It’s the 14th largest city in the state and the third largest in Jefferson County, he said.

“This is smart growth,” Zaragoza said. “I’ve been with this city for 45 years,, and I want to see it continue to grow … I think it’s going to be great for the community.”

As the city grows, residents want more parks built, roads paved, sidewalks installed and flooding prevented, he said. “What that takes is money to go in and do that,” he said.

Vestavia Hills residents pay 92.6 mills in property taxes, with 52 mills going to the school system and 22 mills going to the city, he said. He pays $3,100 a year in property taxes, and only $710 of that goes to the city, he said. The return that residents get for that money in city services is good, he said.

Vestavia Hills police Chief Dan Rary said the entertainment district won’t give people “carte blanche permission to break the law.” Public intoxication laws still will be in effect, and he doesn’t expect the entertainment district to have an impact on the level of crime in the city, he said.

Brian Malcom, a resident of Aspen Cove Drive, said he’s concerned that an entertainment district in Rocky Ridge will lead to more traffic in an area that already is a traffic bottleneck. He’s also concerned about a tailgating-type atmosphere with lots of noise and litter.

Rary said the city’s noise ordinance still would be in effect.

Robin Morgan, who owns the Rocky Ridge Square and Rocky Ridge Plaza shopping centers, said he also owns the nearby Morgan Manor Apartments and “I’m certainly not going to poison the atmosphere at my apartments with undue noise.”

He’s excited about the entertainment district and looking forward to having it, he said. If problems arise with events in his shopping centers, people can contact him and he can address the problems, he said.

Scott Perry, a member of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said the business community supports the entertainment district concept and hopes it will continue the growing momentum in the city’s business climate.

Zaragoza and some council members said city leaders know they are going to have to police these entertainment districts to keep things under control.

“If it gets out of hand, this ordinance – it can go away,” Councilman George Pierce said.

In other business tonight, the Vestavia Hills City Council:

  • Annexed and rezoned the 100-plus-acre Altadena Valley Country Club property to make way for a new 70-acre city park, a 66-house subdivision and 10 acres of commercial property along Acton Road.
  • Agreed to pay Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood up to $6,000 to provide planning services for a potential entrance to the new city park planned off Acton Road next to the BeKare Child Development Center.
  • Annexed and rezoned land at the corner of Rocky Ridge Road and Wisteria Drive to make way for a 45-house subdivision to be called South Bend.
  • Agreed to pay ABM $40,111 to provide custodial services for the Vestavia Hills City Hall and Civic Center for the first year and $41,265 a year for the next two years.
  • Agreed to pay Volkert Inc. $38,600 to to provide a schematic layout for a new pubic works facility on city land next to the Liberty Park Sports Complex and Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex and/or improvement of the existing secondary public works facility at Wald Park, and an evaluation of road improvements necessary to facilitate access to a new public works facility.
  • Approved a contract that would allow Vestavia HIlls firefighter recruits to attend a training school operated by the Hoover Fire Department. The school would cost $100 per recruit instead of the $3,000 the city pays to send recruits to the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa, fire Chief Jim St. John said.