Council approves rezoning of roughly 4 acres on Highway 69 South to Highway Commercial

The Tuscaloosa City Council on May 19 adopted a zoning amendment to rezone approximately 4.03 acres north of 9710 Highway 69 South and south of 9200 Highway 69 South to Highway Commercial. City staff presented the request from Huffman Real Estate Services, saying the property will be subdivided into four lots and that, if rezoned, the parcels will be annexed into the city for development. Staff said the request conforms to the city's future land-use framework, which identifies the area as corridor commercial, and that the planning commission unanimously recommended approval. Jimmy Duncan of Duncan Coker Associates represented the applicant at the hearing and told council members that the applicants are from Baldwin County and that two of the four lots are tentatively planned for quick-service restaurants. "I think they're tentatively, two of those four lots are quick service restaurants," Duncan said. No members of the public spoke for or against the rezoning at the public hearing. After brief council questions, the council voted to adopt the zoning amendment; staff noted that annexation would come back to the council if rezoning was approved. The rezoning approval allows the applicant to proceed toward annexation and site development processes under city codes and applicable permitting.