Here are a few of the legislative highlights from Tuesday’s Birmingham City Council meeting, in case you missed it.
ITEM 1:
Today the Council voted unanimously to approve the rezoning of a property in the Fairview neighborhood to allow for a community arts and cultural center.
According to the applicant’s proposal, they will “repurpose the existing building into a community arts and cultural center that is rented out to various businesses and non-profits. The Opportunity Center for Arts and Culture site will include a 300- seat venue for theatrical performances, a large reception lobby, a community dining hall, and a full-sized basketball gymnasium. The center will provide opportunities for authentic self-expression, cultural heritage preservation, and life-long learning through a trade school, daycare (Dorothy's Educational Learning Lab), and various non-profits that target the neighborhood's youth, families, women, young adults and veterans.”
Several councilors applauded the efforts that will provide more learning opportunities for Birmingham’s youth. The property is located at the former Family Life Center across the street from Sardis Baptist Church
“This is a great chance for this organization to work collaboratively with their neighbors at Sardis across the street,” Councilor Carol Clarke said during the meeting. “When we met with this group previously during a meeting about this rezoning case, they were flanked by a lot of members in the community. I can tell there is a lot of neighborhood support for this and I’m excited to see it moving forward.”
The Fairview Neighborhood Association met at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 1, 2022, to review the proposed project and voted to support the proposed rezoning request. The vote was 12- approved and 0- denied. The neighborhood is in support of the rezoning request because they want to encourage revitalization, improvements and stability within the community.
Here is the item as it appeared on Tuesday’s agenda:
ITEM 1. An Ordinance “TO FURTHER AMEND THE ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM” Case No. ZAC2022-00004 to change zone district boundaries from R-3 Single Family District to QMU-H Qualified Mixed-Use High District , filed by Daryl Jones of The Opportunity Center, LLC, the owner, for property located at 1600 4th Court West, and situated in the SE¼ of Section 33, Township 17-S, Range 3-West, and the hearing of all interested parties. [Second Reading] (Submitted by Councilor Abbott, Chair, Planning and Zoning Committee) (Recommended by the Z.A.C. and the Planning and Zoning Committee)**
Railway Infrastructure Public Input Meeting
Last week, the Council voted unanimously on a landmark piece of transportation legislation that will pave the way for railway improvements that will drastically improve the quality of life for residents in the Harris Homes community and surrounding areas. The resolution authorizes the Mayor to apply for $10 million in funding for a planning and
engineering project, the first step of a much larger project to improve the rail infrastructure on the Eastern side of town. The improvements would eliminate several rail crossings and allow space for trains to stage their approach into Norris Yard in Irondale in such a way that does not impede street crossings.
City leaders are currently seeking comments from community members and there will be two public input meetings on the railway infrastructure project: One will be held at the Harris Homes Community Center from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, September 20th and another at Social Venture in Woodlawn that same day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
“I personally live in the community that has been impacted by this, nearby to Harris Homes,” Councilor Darrell O’Quinn said. “I’ve been engaging with residents about these train crossings for the last 15 or 20 years, well before I was elected to represent this district. So I am very glad to see a tangible step being taken towards a solution and I thank my colleagues for their continued support.”
Comments may also be provided at the Woodlawn United Methodist website.