Planning & Zoning - Special Meeting

your guidance as we make our decisions this evening. Um, and we ask for your blessings on our community. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. At this time, I'd like to ask Miss Peace if she would lead us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat]

Okay, we got one case tonight. It's additional use case. It's case 0226-02. Uh it's at 1543 Montgomery Highway. It's a Orange Hoover LLC is requesting condition use approval for the property located at 1543 Montgomery Highway for three tenant shopping center. This property is zone C2. Who's here representing this case? You come down and give us your name and address and tell us what you got in mind, please, sir. Good evening. My name is Don Fizer. I'm at 3205 Indian Crest Drive, Indian Springs Village, uh representing Orange Development. I work at Orange and uh our address is 147 uh Resource Center Parkway in Birmingham. So, we developed the shopping center next.

I'm sorry. Better.

Okay. All right. We developed Hoover uh shopping center, Hoover crossings next door. It's 1539 and we at the time that used to be a Mr. Transmission Mexico window back in the time I was in here. We went through the whole variance process previously. Uh at the time, the current building at 1543 is occupied by Quick Pawn Shop. Y'all had a moratorium on Quick Ponds on pawn shops. We did everything we can to get rid of them. Ultimately did. And our plan was ultimately to redevelop this. Sat down with Mack multiple times on different opportunities that we had, single use opportunities to redevelop. Ultimately, we figured out this building itself has got great bones. U went back through and said, "Look, let's just give it a facelift for the most part." So, we got our architect involved, went through and looked at and I've got before I get too far, I've got Max's got a great presentation because we submitted a ton of information to him. I've also got some pictures and stuff that I'd like to hand out to you and we I can make reference to those as we go through. All good. All right. So, that the picture that we've got right there is an aerial I

mean an overhead of our planned new building that we've got currently done. Uh what I handed out to you are is the plan page first sheet of what that Quick Pawn building looked like as uh our architect got involved. Uh what I wanted to point out was this building. We bought it. Obviously Quick Pond was our tenant. And when you look at it, three sets of doors, three rear doors. It was set up originally for three tenants. So, the pictures behind it kind of give you an idea of what it looked like back in the day. That was just we started work on it in I think it ended up being August, late July, August. So, not a very attractive structure. And the second picture that you've got is just a better picture showing the front of that. Um, give you an idea of exactly what it looked like. the rear the second the other next picture they're three separate electrical meters again you can see A B and C previously set up for three tenants um although at the time I I do admit I mean it was quick pawing by itself so there was one tenant when we bought it the next sheet that I've got for you is the the new elevations that we went through The goal with these new elevations were to make it look just like Next Door 1539. Uh which again coming through you all, you all had ideas of look, we're the gateway into Hoover. Make something nice and shiny, pretty, something we'd all be proud of. And that's what we did. That shopping center is killing it. Doing an awesome job. Get lots of compliments on it. Um so that's just this is just the pencil drawing of it. And then as you can see the next picture is what we've

done to date. So, all we really did for the most part, and not all because it's a lot of work, but you know, gave it a brand new facelift, but as you can see, set it up, same setup, three front doors. We kept the same three rear doors, and then off to the far left side, you can see the new electrical section that we've got there, and we've got it set up for three tenants. So when we were going through when we were going through a financing stage, reached out to MAC for a zoning certificate and Mac was came back to us and said, "Whoa, whoa, wait a second. Well, first off, I had a building permit issued." So it had gone through review, building permits issued, we're under construction. Obviously, you can see we're just about done. We're getting financing on it. And Max's like, "Wait a second. Zoning certificate. This is C2. y'all are set up for three tenants. You can't have three tenants. We're like, "Wait a second. It had three. It's set up for three tenants originally." So, the way to work through this is coming to you all for conditional use approval for the three tenant space. So, um probably the next question from you all is tenants. Do we have ideas on tenants? And we do. We've got uh an Einstein bagel which is on the far end next to uh Thompson frame. So mainly a morning breakfast, coffee, bagel juice, national brand. The middle tenant is a uh health and wellness tenant called Recovery House. Um the tenant closest to Wingstop, which is on the far right end, is a cafe, small cafe. So um grand total 4,700 square feet and uh we've got it broke up, as I said earlier, to three tenants. So, coming to you all to ask for conditional use approval to be allowed to have those three tenants.

Let me let I'd like ask you some more questions, but let's what hear what Mac has to say and then we'll get you back up here. How about that? Sure. Absolutely.

All right. So, staff have reviewed this case and a lot of similarities to the case we had conditional use for the shopping center to the north. Um this is a very challenged site. Uh very small um well well under an acre and um a lot of rightway for Highway 31 uh that comes in towards the the built environment on this site and you can see that indicated on the uh the site plan uh on the overhead and in your packet. Um [clears throat] so the the site itself just very challenging. Uh and it has been built out. Uh the building there is uh has been around for quite some time, several decades. Um [clears throat] and uh as was mentioned has been host most most recently to a single tenant. The developer is not intending on adding additional square footage. They're wanting to reconfigure the existing building that is on site, which they have demoed the interior and have gone through uh with their permit, remodeled the exterior to make it uh aesthetically much better and in line with the development that they did just to the north. Um so after reviewing the application uh we are in a position to recommend approval on the case uh with a couple of contingencies. One that uh there be a shared cross access agreement with the property to the north and that that agreement is recorded. Now quick note on that uh there has been back and forth from the developers team and our legal team. They have crafted that agreement. Uh it has been reviewed by the city attorney's office and approved to form uh as the zoning ordinance requires and

we're in the phase now where the developer is set to record that. So um we just need as a contingency that that agreement is recorded. Uh and then the second um condition is that uh variances be obtained related to parking, landscaping and setbacks. Uh as I mentioned, the site is very much physically challenged given the width of the ride ofway of highway 31 and also this is a double frontage lot. Uh you have Laura Lorna Road on the back side. It's not accessible to Laura Road, but at least according to the code, it is a double frontage lot. So that comes with 50 foot setbacks on top of the constrained nature of the property to begin with. Uh so that is a a physical hardship. Um also just given the amount of space the existing building on site that limits the amount of parking that uh the private property aspect of this site can uh can handle. Uh they have managed to plan out eight I'm sorry 16 parking spaces on private property. uh that is short of the of the 25 that uh would be required for the square footage per our zoning ordinance. Uh however, I will note a couple of things beyond just the physical constrictions that this property has. Uh there is parking that exists within the right ofway of Highway 31. you have an additional five spaces directly in front of the building. And again with the cross parking agreement that you would have to the north, uh that parking would be available for this site as well. But 16 spaces is really the the maximum that can be accommodated

by the private property portion of this site. Uh so that is a variance that is needed. Also, we have tree conserv conservation. Uh the portion of our zoning ordinance that requires a certain amount of trees to be planted across the site uh for the long-term uh tree canopy to once again grow on the site. [clears throat] And uh with our landscape architect reviewing this site, um his opinion is that this property uh does not lend itself to viable um tree growth. Uh the space that you have to the rear of the building [snorts] is about the only permeable surface that you have. And again with the topography, Lorna Road being elevated above it, there being a wall adjacent to it, uh the building itself, um the dumpster enclosure, there are a number of things going on there where that space really isn't viable uh for trees to be planted. So without a a real viable place for tree conservation to occur on the site uh the landscape architect is recommending a variance uh for the tree conservation side. I will note that uh in the portion of uh the site outside of private property in the ride ofway when Orange Development initially developed the shopping center to the north, they carried the improvements uh the parking and landscaping and sidewalk within the rightway south across the frontage of this site. So if you have visited the site, you'll notice that there are trees planted, there is parking, there is sidewalk out front. it's just not on the private property and therefore doesn't count towards the building itself uh and the development

on the site. So the applicant has uh made an application with the board of zoning adjustment to hear uh these variances. Um we're actually scheduled following this meeting uh work session with BZA to talk through this and their other cases. Uh so in short uh we're in a a space where we recognize that the the property is constrained. There are physical difficulties with the property. Uh the developer is not expanding the building just reorienting the space from one tenant into three spaces. Um [clears throat] and we're in a position where we recommend favorably staff does on this application contingent on recording of the cross parking agreement and the variances being obtained from the BZA.

Okay. Thanks. Can I get you to come back up there and we'll see if we got some questions for you from the plan commission? I I I I got a couple of questions for you. the um Yes, sir. I I understand you're going to do a cross parking agreement with the property you have to the north. How many extra parking places do you have in that facility? More than we need. You know, at this point, I don't know the exact number. I'd have to confer with Mac and go through that. I know that what we see out there on a daily basis, we have extra parking. I mean, consistently. I mean

by by what the requirement from our specs, do you have any idea how many you have versus how many you're required? No, I apologize. I do not know. Mac, would you know? Okay. Did when you built these spaces, these tenant spaces, I assumed you built them and you have the correct fire protection, one hour, whatever it requires between the tenants. Not necessarily our responsibility between the tenants. We did work through the entire permit set for our remodel for all the codes required for the shell itself. Shell itself,

but the individual tenants will be responsible for all fire rated and all to make sure everything is two code. But our plans for the shell itself, which is a cold dark shell, went through both fire marshall review and approval and building permits. So you don't have ten tenant separation walls already constructed. That's [snorts] going to be built by the tenants. Correct. Yes, sir.

Uh Mr. Chair, I will note that um our parking calculations have the square footage for general retail in this case requiring 25 spaces. Uh they've provided 16 on site. There are five in the right of way directly in front of the building. That puts the difference at four parking spaces uh that they would need from either additional parking in the ride ofway to the north uh or from the adjacent site. So, okay. The vast majority of the parking is uh in close proximity to the building. Okay. All right. Any questions from planning commission?

I've got a question. It appears that there's a billboard, an existing billboard immediately behind your building. Are y'all owners of that? We are. Yes, ma'am. Would y'all be willing to remove it? Uh, we're under a long-term lease on it at this point. Have a lease. When you say long term, how many years are we talking? I think it's at least 10. We would like to as a, you know, we've generally been looking at these billboards that are existing and if we can remove them, we'd like to. Um, that's just a location where, you know, it's squeezed in behind the back of the building, the wall adjacent to Laura Road. It's pretty unsightly. You can even see it in your photos. Um, so there is a lease that you have with someone else.

Long term. Yes, ma'am. Possibly 10ear lease at least. Yes, ma'am. that would you be willing to give that lease up after that lease is expired? Sitting here right now, I would say I can't answer that question one way or the other. Our owner would have to answer that. But I mean, it's an income stream and I hear you all loud and clear. But I mean, it is a long-term lease. So, I mean, I'm not sure what 10 years from now yields. Okay.

Yeah. And the reason we ask is that this is a opportunity for us to question and ask about it. We did have a case previously um where we did have a situation and after the lease was over, the property owner did agree that they would actually remove that. Yeah. If and I'd have to go back through and look at the lease itself, but I know that they have options on top of it, but I I believe there is a 10-year lease in place that has additional options on top of it. What the specifics are to that, I'd have to look at it and then we could revisit it possibly. Okay. Any other questions? Anybody in the audience?

Can you tell me a little bit more about the health and wellness tenant in the middle like what services they offer, what the clientele would be like. I'm mostly questioning that related to like the parking available to meet the needs of that. What my understanding is it's a tenant that is going to provide like red light therapy, possibly sauna, cold plunge, and have that that kind of facility. It's it's therapeutic. Okay. So, it's not a heavy use like a tanning day, not a high turnover type. No, I mean, obviously, he has limited cold plunges, you know, that kind of stuff. And it is a cycle that they would run through.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Anybody in the audience? I'll entertain a motion.

I need a motion. Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to approve um this case number C226-02 with the staff conditions. Do we also need to discuss the billboard or have that as conting as part of the motion? Your motion? It's not in my motion. Okay. [laughter] Okay. Just a question that you staff conditions have to do with the cross parking.

Yes. As stated in the agenda, cross shared access agreement with the property to the north is recorded and variances are obtained related to parking, landscaping, and setbacks. Okay. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. Have a motion second. All in favor say I. I. Those opposed? Nay. Motion carries. Good luck to you. Thank you very much. Appreciate your all support. Okay. No other nothing else on the agenda. We're journ.