Council authorizes agreement to pursue redevelopment of old police headquarters; zoning review to follow

The Homewood City Council on March 30 authorized the city to enter into an agreement to pursue an unsolicited redevelopment proposal for the former police headquarters, approving the measure 9-2.

Councilors said the proposal, submitted by a private developer, would keep a portion of the site as public green space while allowing commercial uses on the remaining portion; specific design and permitting approvals must return to the planning commission and the council at later meetings.

Finance committee chair Councilor Smith reported the committee had voted 3-1-1 to refer the item to the full council with no recommendation. Committee members discussed the proposal's concept and fiscal outline prior to the council's final vote.

During council discussion members described the property as the last city-owned parcel in the downtown core and said the unsolicited plan opened a public conversation about how to balance green space, parking and commercial development. Councilors noted the site's current institutional zoning means additional approvals ' including a rezone and subdivision ' will likely be required before a final plan can proceed.

City staff told the council the vote authorized the city to enter into an agreement that would preserve the park portion in public ownership while allowing the restaurant/commercial portion to be developed privately; the staff member said specific design plans and any rezoning requests would "come back to us a few times" for planning commission and council review.

Councilors also raised parking and downtown circulation concerns, and staff said the developer was working on designs to offset parking loss and explore alternative off-street parking. The council did not approve a final site plan or rezone at the March 30 meeting.

The motion passed 9-2. The transcript does not identify which councilors cast the two dissenting votes during the final tally.

Next steps: staff and the developer will return with site plans, and any rezone or subdivision requests would be processed through the planning commission and then returned to the council for formal approval.