Birmingham hires Halsey Levine to rewrite zoning ordinance; contract approved

The Birmingham City Commission approved an agreement to hire Halsey Levine to prepare a comprehensive zoning ordinance update for the city, funding the work with an appropriation already budgeted for FY2026.

Planning director Nick Dupuis told commissioners the selection followed an RFP process that produced six responses; Halsey Levine was the unanimous recommendation of the planning board. "We as staff throughout the whole process evaluated responses," Dupuis said, and the planning board felt Halsey Levine was "the best choice." John of Halsey Levine described the firm's emphasis on graphic communication and GIS integration, saying the project will return an enhanced GIS database to the city.

Commissioners and residents focused questions on public outreach and technical details. Carrie Papelbon, the firm's project manager, outlined a phased public engagement program that includes targeted communications, focus groups with builders and business owners, open houses and a final public hearing before adoption. On use of artificial intelligence, the consultant said the firm "does not use AI to write text for zoning or planning" and will apply AI only in a constrained tool that interprets questions against city documents.

A motion to approve the agreement in an amount not to exceed $199,855 carried on a roll-call vote with all present commissioners voting yes. Dupuis noted the commission had budgeted $200,000 for the project in the FY2026 budget and said the approved amount is within that allocation.

The contract authorizes the mayor and city clerk to sign; the scope includes sign-code updates, nonconformity analysis using GIS, and multiple outreach phases over approximately 18 months. The commission directed staff to return with draft ordinance language at subsequent meetings and emphasized the importance of clearly flagging any changes versus clarifications in the code.