By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The Alabaster City Council will decide during its Sept. 6 meeting when it will hold a hearing on rezoning a tract of undeveloped land near the Grande View subdivision to prevent a developer from constructing high-density housing on the plot.

The council originally was scheduled to set a public hearing on the rezoning during its Aug. 15 meeting, but delayed setting the hearing until its Sept. 6 meeting.

The council likely will hold the hearing during its Sept. 15 or Oct. 3 meeting, said City Attorney Jeff Brumlow.

Last month, the Alabaster Planning and Zoning Board recommended the City Council rezone the plot from an R7, or high-density residential, to a more traditional zoning to require the developer to construct larger homes and provide larger lot sizes when it builds in the future.

Ward 7 Councilman Tommy Ryals previously said the rezoning would require the developer to raise the square footage for each lot, and would “cut the density by about half.”

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 Sept. 6, the Planning and Zoning Board will review the second lot and make a recommendation to the council.