By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council has paved the way for 13 new home lots to be developed off Arrow Drive after it approved a prezoning and an annexation request tied to the development during a Nov. 27 meeting.

Council members voted unanimously during the meeting to prezone a portion of about 65 acres north of Arrow Drive as R-1 residential and voted unanimously to annex the property, which was in unincorporated Shelby County, into the city.

R-1 residential zoning calls for 20,000-square-foot minimum lots, but developer Jason Spinks said he is planning to construct estate-sized homes on the property with lots averaging 150 feet wide and 2 acres. Spinks said the homes likely will start in the upper $300,000.

Spinks’ most recent plan for the property calls for a total of 39 new homes on the land split into two separate areas. The first area will only be accessible only via Arrow Drive, would include 13 home lots and would end with a cul-de-sac. The second area would include 26 lots, and would be accessible only via Independence Drive.

All homes in the proposed development would be on septic tanks, not the city sewer system.

During the Nov. 27 meeting and public hearing, the City Council only dealt with the 13 lots off Arrow Drive.

If Spinks decides in the future to move forward with building the 26 lots in the northern part of the development, he must come back to the commission and City Council to get approval.

The council’s vote came after a public hearing on the matter, during which two Arrow Drive residents – Ryan Richardson and Ernie Green – spoke against the development. Both men said they were concerned about increased traffic and the potential environmental impact the development could bring.

“I want to make sure both sides are going to do what they say they’re going to do,” Green said.

Council members said as with any developer, Spinks will be held to strict guidelines by the city’s Planning and Zoning Department as he moves forward with building the 13 houses.