Committee discusses rezoning, RFP approach for future Fire Station No. 5 site

City staff told a Tuscaloosa City committee on Oct. 12 that the city should consider rezoning the site of the proposed future Fire Station No. 5 before issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to private-sector buyers. "This was to discuss the RFP process and kind of expectation both in language and process," a city staff member said during the continuation of the item’s discussion.

The staff member said the property is currently zoned institutional and that a private-sector buyer would generally need a different zoning classification for commercial uses. "If you do want to move forward and RFP’ing site, it probably needs to be proactively rezoned," the staff member said, adding the rezoning process is typically an eight- to ten-week sequence that the committee should consider when timing an RFP.

Why it matters: rezoning beforehand can make an RFP more attractive to potential buyers by clarifying permitted uses and speeding transactions. The staff member said the city would typically aim for a tax-producing, sales-tax-generating use — likely a commercial zoning category compatible with automotive or vehicular services — and explicitly could exclude uses the council does not want, such as residential developments.

Details and next steps City staff offered to prepare a briefing for the committee that would include an appropriate zoning district recommendation, a permitted-use table, an aerial map and conceptual building specifications. "If you bless it, we could release the RFP and then initiate the rezoning process," the staff member said. Staff also said the RFP would be posted on the city website and distributed directly to a mailing list that includes more than 100 entities and individuals.

The staff member told the committee the rezoning itself would carry no direct cost to the city beyond staff time and required advertising, and that the committee would not be required to make a final decision at the meeting. The presenter noted that if a university were to take the site for a core mission use, the site could remain institutional depending on the university’s classification of the proposed use.

Committee members and staff discussed typical likely private-sector reuses for the parcel, including an automobile dealer or service garage, with the staff member advising the committee to pick language that allows desired uses and excludes undesired ones. Several staff members offered to sit down and refine draft RFP language and permitted uses before the RFP is released.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the sale or rezoning at the meeting; staff said they would return the briefing materials to the group for further direction.