By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A developer will move forward with constructing a new subdivision near the corner of Butler Road and Mission Hills Road after the City Council agreed to rezone the 44-acre property during a May 26 meeting.

During the meeting, the council voted 5-0 to rezone the property from a mixture of R-3 residential and B-3 business to all R-3 to allow for a new subdivision. Council members Russell Bedsole and Stacy Rakestraw were absent from the meeting.

The Alabaster Planning and Zoning Commission voted in March to recommend the City Council move forward with rezoning the property. Plans call for the new neighborhood to include about 84 new homes, said developer Cameron Givianpour.

Ward 7 Councilman Tommy Ryals previously said the property originally was zoned a mixture of R-3 and B-3 to allow for “neighborhood-type businesses” to locate near the intersection of Mission Hills Road and Butler Road. The developer had trouble recruiting businesses to move off the main Alabama 119 corridor, Ryals said.

An R-3 zoning will allow for about three homes per acre, but the density will be lower for the lots abutting the Windy Oaks and Maple Ridge subdivisions, Ryals said.

The vote came after a public hearing on the matter, during which four Alabaster residents spoke against the new development.

Chris Lewis, who lives in the Grande View Estates subdivision across from the proposed development, said he had “several issues” with the new development moving forward.

The South Grande View development company, which owns the land, requested the city rezone the property to all R-3 to allow for a new neighborhood.

The development company, which also developed Grande View Estates, has not yet finished building out the Grande View neighborhood, Lewis said. Grande View previously had issues with its roads, forcing the city to spend money to repair portions of the road.

Lewis also said he would like to see the development company add another entrance to Grande View, as the subdivision only has one now. City regulations require at least two entrances into a subdivision, Lewis said.

“I’d like to see (the development company) complete the job they should have done with the original subdivision before they move on to the new development,” Lewis said.

Rick Thompson, who lives in the Windy Oaks subdivision, and the three others who spoke against the new development, also cited concerns of increased traffic and flooding issues.

“There is considerable runoff from this property,” Thompson said. “My fear is it will get worse when the trees are taken off this property.”

Ryals said the new neighborhood could have moved forward even if the rezoning had not been approved.

“If we don’t vote on anything, they can still build the same size homes. This is just to remove the B-3,” Ryals said. “This is not a vote to stop or delay the development, it’s just to remove the B-3. Traffic is an issue, but you can’t just stop growing.”