Gardendale Planning Commission adopts long-range Comprehensive Plan after 16‑month process

The Gardendale Planning & Zoning Commission voted unanimously Feb. 12 to adopt a new citywide Comprehensive Plan developed over 16 months and intended to guide land‑use decisions, capital investments and policy priorities.

Lindsay S. Puckett, AICP, principal planner with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, said the plan is a policy guide — not zoning — and contains 10 chapters and 155 recommended actions aimed at shaping growth over the next five to 10 years. "The contents of this Comprehensive Plan reflect the City of Gardendale's community values," Puckett said, reading the statement on the plan's cover.

Puckett summarized the outreach and technical work behind the document: an existing‑conditions analysis, housing needs assessment, stakeholder meetings with department heads and the chamber of commerce, online mapping and two public reveal events. She said outreach produced about 3,000 engagements (roughly 18% of Gardendale’s estimated 16,000 residents) and that unique website participation was close to 10 percent.

The plan includes a State‑required Future Land Use chapter and map book, a housing chapter informed by the housing needs assessment, recommendations on mobility and public services, and a code‑reform appendix with suggested zoning and subdivision ordinance changes. Puckett said the plan’s recommendations are action‑based and prioritized into short, medium and long‑term items.

Commissioners and the mayor praised the thoroughness of the process. After Puckett outlined revisions made during drafting, Chairman Jack Fields asked if any members of the public wished to comment; no one in the chamber spoke, and the commission approved the plan on a motion from Bill Casaday seconded by Ronald Barnett.

The plan incorporates edits made after public feedback, including removing a previously proposed "Mixed Residential" category and redesignating certain areas near the planned I‑422 Northern Beltline interchange from Rural Preservation to General Commercial, a change intended to align with recent Jefferson County planning and to prepare for potential interchange‑adjacent employment or service uses.

Puckett told commissioners she will finalize the PDF for the city website and provide 15 hard copies after the City Council transmits its endorsing resolution. The Council is expected to consider a resolution to endorse the plan at its next meeting.