Hoover zoning board recommends approval for 833-acre Everlee development

The Hoover zoning board on Monday night unanimously recommended the Hoover City Council approve the rezoning of 833 acres between Ross Bridge and Lake Cyrus for a new 2,344-home community called Everlee.

The development, being done by Signature Homes, Marbury Properties and CCN Asset Management, would take development rights for 1,944 future homes promised to U.S. Steel on the Trigger Creek property on the south side of Morgan Road and transfer them to the Everlee property.

The Everlee development would include 400 more housing units than promised to U.S. Steel. However, 600 of the homes in Everlee would be restricted to people age 55 and older and people without children under the age of 18 living in the home, Belcher said. The net effect then would be 200 fewer homes that potentially would produce children for Hoover City Schools than is currently allowed on the Trigger Creek property, he said.

The Everlee development also would include 250,000 to 500,000 square feet of commercial space if approved by the council.

Monday night’s approval came after developers spent the past month addressing concerns raised about land for a school, a proposed road connection to Ross Bridge and other traffic issues.

Numerous Ross Bridge residents said they have no problem with the Everlee development, but they didn’t want Everlee connecting with Ross Bridge via Orchard Avenue, as proposed.

The compromise reached is to build the connector road but only allow it to be used as a “service” road for police and fire vehicles, school buses, garbage trucks and other vehicles providing municipal services. The road would be blocked by a gate to prevent other vehicles from using it.

Because city officials believe a second public access point is needed for Everlee, Signature Homes has agreed to provide a two-lane access road to the west at a location to be approved by the city engineer, but that location was not specified in the proposal.

Signature Homes also has agreed to maintain a 500-foot-wide undisturbed buffer between the new 2,800-home development and the Glasscott sector of Ross Bridge, President Jonathan Belcher said.

It’s the same buffer Signature agreed to establish when the development was approved to take place in unincorporated Jefferson County (before the developers decided to seek annexation into Hoover).

Another key issue that has been resolved is a donation of land for the Hoover school system. Developers initially had agreed to donate 20 acres of prepared land for an elementary school site, but Hoover school officials said they would prefer to have 45 to 60 acres instead of just 20 to give them more options for a different kind of school, such as a middle school or small high school.

The compromise reached is for Signature Homes to donate 25 prepared acres for a school site. However, if the school system at a later date determines it needs more land for a different kind of school, Signature would provide another 20 acres but would not prepare those 20 acres for school development, Belcher said.

Bob Lawry, the student services coordinator for Hoover City Schools, said the school system is satisfied with that arrangement.

The developers also agreed to pay for a traffic signal at the Everlee entrance that connects to Alabama 150 and any road improvements required by the Alabama Department of Transportation in connection with the Everlee development.

Everlee would have four primary parts:

A Village Center on 156 acres in the middle of the property — roughly a mile off Alabama 150 — with up to 600 single-family homes similar to what is found in the Ross Bridge Village Center, except about three times as large as the Ross Bridge Village Center, Belcher said. Up to 300 of those single-family homes would be restricted to people age 55 and older. There also would be a small amount of convenience commercial development in the Village Center, such as a small restaurant, and a community amenity center that includes a fitness center and gathering spaces, Belcher said.

A Town Center on 142 acres closest to Alabama 150 with up to 444 residential units, 100 of which would be restricted to one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments for rent above retail or office space, Belcher said. Developers have learned from doing the Ross Bridge and Trace Crossings developments that there is a desire in the community to have affordable places where young college graduates can come back to Hoover to start their young adult lives, he said. The Town Center also would include 250,000 square feet of commercial space, including about 40 acres of a core area with a mixture of office, retail, restaurants and maybe a grocery store and hotel.

A planned residential area with 1,000 single-family detached homes on 278 acres.

Two hundred and fifty-seven acres of mostly undisturbed property that would be left natural, except for the development of a park along Shades Creek. The Everlee property has about 3,400 feet along Shades Creek that so far few people have been able to see or enjoy, Belcher said. Development of a trail along the creek would provide a recreational amenity and could connect to other nearby trails such as the Lakeshore Trail along Lakeshore Parkway and trails in the Moss Rock Preserve, he said. This could create a situation where people could follow pedestrian trails all the way from Mountain Brook to Lake Cyrus, he said. Steps would be taken to protect and preserve Shades Creek, he said.

Signature Homes has purchased the 630 acres that would contain the Village Center and planned residential area, Belcher said. Marbury Properties and CCN Asset Management own the 203-acre Town Center site (which includes 62 acres of undisturbed land), but he said Signature Homes plans to develop the residential portion of the Town Center.

The Everlee development is expected to have an economic impact of more than $1 billion, Belcher said. He estimates it will lead to an additional $2.25 million a year in property taxes to Hoover City Schools and $5 million a year in property taxes to Jefferson County.

Jefferson County officials are considering whether to dedicate that $5 million a year to help pay for the new Interstate 459 interchange being proposed just south of South Shades Crest Road, Belcher said.

Initially, the plan was for U.S. Steel to seek deannexation of the Trigger Creek property south of Morgan Road in conjunction with the transfer of the 1,944 residential units to Everlee.

However, Councilman Mike Shaw said some city officials are leery of deannexing the Trigger Creek property, particularly because the city could stand to gain from commercial development that likely will take place along Morgan Road.

Therefore, the section of the proposal that dealt with the deannexation of the Trigger Creek property was removed from the Everlee proposal. Shaw said he thought it would be better if this issue were left for the City Council to consider.

The Trigger Creek property currently is “unzoned,” City Planner Mac Martin said. Before U.S. Steel or anyone else could develop it, they would need to seek proper zoning from the city, Martin said.

Planning Commission Chairman Mike Wood said the thinks the Everlee development is a good deal because the land along Alabama 150 is much easier for the city to provide services than the land along Morgan Road.

Also, because there are two fire stations already close to the Everlee land, the city would not need to build another fire station to serve that development, Wood said.

The rezoning proposal now goes to the Hoover City Council for consideration.