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Council approves 57-acre Brixton rezoning for 144 single-family lots at Old Colony Road
Summary
The Tuscaloosa City Council on April 14 approved a rezoning to allow the Brixton general plan development on about 57 acres at 580 Old Colony Road, authorizing 144 single-family lots, roughly a third of the site as open space, and requiring brick on front and sides of homes.
The Tuscaloosa City Council on April 14 adopted a zoning amendment to rezone about 57 acres at 580 Old Colony Road from SFR-1 (single-family residential) to a General Plan Development (GPD) for a subdivision called Brixton, 68 Ventures LLC said. The rezoning authorizes 144 single-family lots, seven open-space lots and roughly 19 acres of open space (about one-third of the site). The council approved the measure after a public hearing and planning staff presentation.
The developer and its consultants told the council the project will average about 2.5 dwelling units per acre, with most lots 60 feet wide. Homes will range in size from about 1,800 to 3,100 square feet with price points the petitioner listed at roughly $500,000 to $850,000. Jimmy Duncan, representing the applicant Duncan Coker Associates, said, "the density on this now is down to 2.5 units per acre." The project will be built in four phases and will include architectural controls; builders will be required to use brick on the front and sides, staff said.
The plan includes a continuous sidewalk along the Old Colony Road frontage to tie into previously terminated sidewalks. Council members pressed the applicant and staff about sidewalk widths and connections; the council discussed a five-foot standard for sidewalks in the city's right of way and asked staff to confirm existing adjacent sidewalks were built to the same standard. The developer said the sidewalks along Old Colony frontage will be extended for the full frontage of the property.
A recurring issue in council and planning commission meetings was a gate on Forest Oaks Lane that currently blocks direct access. The applicant said a condition on the neighboring Towns of North River subdivision's final plat requires removal of that gate when Forest Oaks Lane is improved to county standards; the developer said Forest Oaks Lane improvements will be completed as part of phases 2 and 3 and that the gate removal will occur later in the buildout. Council members noted the timing means the gate will likely remain in place through much of the early construction phases.
Planning staff told the council that the planning commission unanimously recommended approval of the GPD after review. The public hearing drew no speakers opposing the rezoning. After brief council discussion and questions of the applicant, the council voted to adopt the zoning amendment.
The council and developer also discussed traffic and connectivity. The applicant and staff said the project's main intersection aligns with a proposed road improvement on the south side of Old Colony Road and that site-distance evaluations did not warrant a traffic signal at the new intersection; a future adjoining project to the south could trigger signalization at a different nearby intersection once that property develops.
Council members praised the project's amount of open space and the developer's outreach to adjacent neighborhoods while noting residents' concerns about connectivity and the timing of the gate removal. The rezoning allows the Brixton GPD to proceed under the approved site plan and development conditions.
The council's action was recorded during the April 14 meeting and the ordinance adopting the zoning amendment will be entered into the city's zoning records.
