On April 1, the Homewood Planning Commission approved four requests from Samford and Landmark Development Services to rezone and approve the Final Development plans for the Creekside East and West Districts, south of Lakeshore Drive.
All four requests were approved, although the votes were mixed and the board members raised several questions related to the endangered salamander population, watershed care, noise and light pollution and proximity to Homewood High School.
In this meeting, Robert Dunn, spokesperson for the Landmark Development presented the plans and addressed concerns brought up by the board members of the commission.
The April 1 meeting was a continuation of the issue, first presented at the Planning Commission meeting on March 4.
During the March 4 meeting, many Homewood residents came forward, expressing concerns with how the development would impact the city of Homewood and concern on how quickly the vote would take place in proximity to the first announcement of the plan.
Many citizens urged the commission to postpone the vote until next month’s meeting, to allow for more time for community discussion and the place to express concerns. Ultimately, Dunn agreed to move the vote to the next meeting, to have further chance to hear from the community.
In Dunn’s primary presentation of the plan, he showed that the development would be primarily pedestrian oriented, with plans, if approved by the state, to build a pedestrian bridge over Lakeshore Drive from Samford’s campus to the new development.
“One point I want to stress is this really is a continuation of Samford’s master plan,” Dunn said. “The Creekside development is really the next stage of development that has been contemplated by Samford for some time.”
Dunn expressed the plan’s commitment to improving the watershed and the Lakeshore trail greenway and he showed preliminary research on the effect on traffic.
He acknowledged community concerns that the projected height of the hotel building will be the tallest building in the Homewood area, but anticipated that the upward grading of the hill will mitigate the effects of the building’s height.
Dunn also attempted to explain the meaning of “Samford affiliated housing” that has been listed in the original plan. The definition of a Samford affiliate is rather broad, including anyone participating in a Samford sponsored program, ranging from students and athletes to residents that receive a health and wellness benefit through their rent.
“We have a very different perspective here, this is community first, and Samford residents, students, faculty etc. fit into that formula,” Dunn said. “This is not, you know, like Collegetown USA like we’ve seen in a lot of cities throughout the country”.
Following Dunn’s presentation, residents of Homewood, as well as neighboring areas like Vestavia Hills, stood up and presented concerns like noise and pollution.
One citizen mentioned that Samford has not been attentive neighbor to the community, stating that recently when the baseball stadium lights were on for 72 hours straight, his bedroom was illuminated all night long.
Another Homewood resident, and member of Friends of Shades Creek, Michelle Blackwood, shared her concern for the salamander population. She explained that in order to survive, the salamanders need access to a vernal pool, which is a pool that dries up over the summer. The salamanders lay their eggs, and no fish are in the pool to eat the eggs.
“If Creekside East becomes the development that been shown to you tonight, they (the salamanders) probably won’t exist, at least they won’t be a population that will be reproducing, and they’ll eventually go away,” Blackwood said.
Members of the community repeatedly emphasized that they were taken by surprise by the sudden announcement and urged the commission wait to take a vote.
Colin Coyne did eventually stand up to represent Samford, and he repeated the sentiment of Samford to continue to collaborate with the community.
Multiple members of the council declared that they would be unable to vote during that meeting, due to the immense community pushback, and the need for the minds of the people they were representing to be changed.
During the following meeting a month later on April 1, the commission restated that their vote will only go on as a recommendation to the city council.
Dunn returned to the April 1 meeting and gave a second presentation, repeating many of the same answers and answering some questions from the board members.
Dunn added that the development desires to create an advisory board to create a document with conditions that the development will be bound to. He also restated their commitment to work with the community.
Kate Durrance, a Samford freshman, attended the April 1 meeting.
“They kind of just brushed a lot of the questions under the rug and answered them in very roundabout ways that provided no real information,” Durrance said, “It really struck me as them not having any idea what they’re actually going to do to solve the problems that a lot of the board members raised.”
Council member Winslow Armstead also stated that many of the concerns raised in the first meeting did not seem to be answered by the second presentation, issues like noise and light pollution, effect on the high school and the movement of fields and flood plains.
Dunn responded by saying that many of these issues cannot be anticipated, and the solutions will be produced as the building takes place. He said that they need to do more work and research to determine the best way to move forward, as the process begins.
“Some of this is trust, trust us to do this well, trust us to do this right and trust us to do this in a way that has continued good engagement with the community,” Dunn said. “I cannot promise you that we’ll solve every issue to everyone’s satisfaction, but I can promise you that in the end we’ll have a project here that is a defining place in the city of Homewood”
With the advisory board, the developers will create a document with conditions they must adhere to with every project.
Dunn repeatedly emphasized that the self-imposed covenants are not required by the city but indicate the University’s good faith efforts to work with the community.
“I would urge you (the developers) strongly to have a very long meeting with Friends of Shades Creek” said Jennifer Andress, another council member. “I’ve heard from current Samford faculty and former Samford faculty who have major concerns environmentally.”
Following the recent vote from the planning commission, the issue will be moved onto the city council.
“What we want is the chance to prove how to do this right,” Dunn said.
Dunn said that the planning commission must have a framework from the planning commission approval before beginning to bring solutions.
Gigi Canale is a Samford sophomore who also attended the meeting.
“I think the long and short of it is that I’m really frustrated with the direction Samford is going,” Canale said. “From watching the citizens of Homewood walk out of that meeting, they were very angry.”
News Editor
