Residents urge council to deny proposed extended-stay hotel near Oxmoor Valley park

Multiple Oxmoor Valley residents spoke during public comment on Jan. 27 asking the Birmingham City Council to deny a proposed extended-stay hotel at a site off Frankfurt Circle near Lakeshore Parkway and adjacent to a public park.

Madeline Green, identified as Oxmoor Valley Neighborhood Association president, said neighborhood meetings showed strong opposition and raised safety and quality-of-life concerns: "This is not an industrial area. We are condos, apartments, and families and seniors," she told the council, and she questioned whether the city understands the character of the neighborhood. Green and other residents noted the proposed hotel would be roughly 500 feet from housing and a park and said there are already multiple hotels nearby.

Brenda Perryman, a senior resident, said the hotel site was "too close to the residential areas" and would not attract the best-suited occupants for the neighborhood. A longer statement from a speaker identified as Mr. Carter presented a formal objection listing five areas of concern: child safety adjacent to the park, land-use incompatibility because extended-stay lodging functions like quasi-residential housing, the absence of enforceable on-site safeguards (security staffing, length-of-stay limits, screening, buffers or fencing), erosion of community trust and precedent-setting, and lack of analysis demonstrating protection of public safety and welfare. Carter urged the council to deny the proposal or at minimum require stronger, binding conditions.

President acknowledged the concerns and said her office will seek more information about current zoning, Oxmoor design guidelines and coordinate with the administration to provide answers to councilors. No zoning vote or final decision occurred at the meeting; residents were invited to continue engagement with the council and design steering committee.