Hoover planning commission recommends council deny proposal to convert Meadowbrook office into K–12 school

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission voted Wednesday to send a conditional-use application to the City Council with a recommendation to deny after extended testimony from staff, the applicant and scores of residents.

The application sought approval to convert office space at 2500 Corporate Drive in the Meadowbrook planned-unit development into a K–12 parochial school with an ancillary community center. Planning staff told the commission they could not make a positive recommendation, citing inconsistencies with the city’s comprehensive plan, unclear or shifting project scope and gaps in the traffic analysis (staff remarks). The commission’s vote is advisory; the council will make the final decision.

At the hearing, staff raised several specific concerns. The staff report said earlier traffic-study iterations estimated enrollment at 350 students and a later submittal projected 400, and that staff had not received confidence-inspiring documentation tying enrollment projections to the building’s physical capacity. Staff also noted the site’s proximity to Alabama Highway 119 and said the Alabama Department of Transportation would have to sign off on any study recommendations affecting that state corridor.

Lucas Gambino, representing the applicant, disputed staff’s characterization. Gambino pointed to the zoning code provision for the planned-office (PO) district, cited the city code language allowing schools as a conditional use, and argued the comprehensive plan is advisory and does not automatically bar a use expressly contemplated by the zoning ordinance. He offered several concessions intended to address enforcement concerns: a voluntary enrollment cap of 400 students, limits on community-center hours, periodic reporting and audit rights so the city could verify compliance with any conditions the council might impose.

Cody Long, the project’s traffic engineer with AECOM Technical Services, described the study methodology in detail. Long said the team used ITE trip-generation rates, compared those to trips at an existing, comparable private school in Homewood, and modeled mitigation measures, including adding a protected signal phase at the Doug Baker Boulevard/Highway 119 intersection to reduce side-street delay. Long acknowledged staff’s request to include an AM peak analysis tied to the community-center activity and said that was one of the outstanding comments staff had flagged.

Public comment was strongly tilted toward opposition. Neighbors and business leaders told commissioners they feared increased congestion on Highway 119 and Meadowbrook Drive, loss of commercial tax revenue if the property became tax-exempt, and erosion of the city’s long-term economic strategy to promote a Meadowbrook tech village. Multiple speakers referenced an online petition to oppose the conversion and urged the commission to uphold the comprehensive-plan vision. Several commenters also recounted personal disruption from increased traffic and neighborhood events; one speaker offered a personal anecdote alleging disruptive behavior at a nearby rental property.

The commission debated whether the parcel lies inside the tech-village boundary shown in the comprehensive plan and whether an approved conditional use would set a precedent that could deter future tech investment. After discussion, a motion to recommend denial carried. Chair noted the planning commission is a recommending body and that the City Council will have the final say.

The record shows the commission asked that any future approvals address the outstanding traffic-study comments and that, if the council considers approval, it could attach conditions such as the applicant’s offered enrollment cap and reporting requirements. The City Council is now scheduled to review the application at a future meeting.