By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A builder will pay the city of Alabaster $5,900 per lot sold in an unfinished sector of the Grande View Estates subdivision, clearing the 10 remaining vacant lots in the subdivision for development.

During its Sept. 12 meeting, the Alabaster City Council voted unanimously to approve the plan, which would meet the requirements of a 2015 judgment passed in Shelby County Circuit Court against the South Grande View Development company while allowing the build-out of the vacant lots in Grande View Estates.

In 2011, the city of Alabaster filed a lawsuit against South Grande View Development claiming the company did not properly seal coat the roads in the subdivision, which is off Butler Road in southern Alabaster.

In the lawsuit, the city sought a total of $77,000 in bonds the developer put up as assurance it would bring the neighborhood up to city code before starting work on the development.

In December 2015, Circuit Court Judge Sonny Conwill issued a consent judgment in the case, ordering South Grande View Development to pay a total of $59,518 to the city.

The judgment amount was intended to cover a portion of the funds the city paid to bring the neighborhood’s roads up to city code.

The developer was unable to proceed with building out the remaining 10 undeveloped lots in the subdivision on Grande View Pass without paying the judgment amount.

Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon said a builder recently expressed interest in purchasing the 10 undeveloped lots from South Grande View Development, and requested the city waive the $59,518 judgment amount.

Handlon said the city worked out an agreement with the developer, allowing the city to receive $5,900 each time one of the 10 lots is sold.

Once all 10 lots are sold, the city will release the lien against South Grande View, said City Attorney Jeff Brumlow. Brumlow said the buyer is set to close on several of the lots soon.