By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City Council is set to vote Aug. 15 on whether or not it will rezone a portion of undeveloped land near the Grande View neighborhood to prevent the developer from constructing high-density housing on the property.

During its July 26 meeting, the Alabaster Planning and Zoning Board voted to recommend the City Council rezone the undeveloped property from R7 to a more traditional residential zoning.

“When the developer broke ground in that in the ‘90s, the property was split into a variety of different zones,” said Alabaster Ward 7 Councilman Tommy Ryals, who is also on the Planning and Zoning Board.

“I had never really agreed with what the developer had planned, but the developer was never agreeable about rezoning the land,” Ryals added. “But now, there are some questions about ownership on that land. So it seemed like the appropriate time to look at rezoning it.”

Through the R7 zoning, the developer could have constructed high-density residences, such as town homes or garden homes.

“You’ve got several half-million-dollar homes built out there right now, and they back right up to where the developer was talking about building garden homes,” Ryals said.

If the City Council votes to rezone the land, the developer must construct homes similar to the ones currently in the neighborhood.

“It will raise the square-footage requirements for each lot, and will cut the density by about half,” Ryals said.

There are currently two large undeveloped lots near Grande View ¬– one is about 30 acres and the other is about 50 acres, Ryals said. After the first lot comes before the City Council Aug. 15, the Planning and Zoning Board will review the second lot and make a recommendation to the council.