Photo by Caroline Miller
The Chelsea City Council meets at Chelsea City Hall on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
Residents in Chelsea’s Forest Parks community on Tuesday night continued to express concerns about traffic in connection with a proposed new subdivision with 20 homes next to Forest Parks.
It was one of two public hearings held Tuesday by the Chelsea City Council in connection with rezoning requests.
HighPointe Properties is asking the city to rezone 28 acres along U.S. 280 for a new subdivision with 20 homes. The actual request is to rezone the land between U.S. 280 and the Forest Parks community from an agricultural-residential district, which requires lots to be at least 10 acres, to an R-1 single-family residential district, which allows for lots down to 20,000 square feet.
Developer Connor Farmer of Highpointe Properties explained that the subdivision would be separate from Forest Parks but would go by the same covenants and restrictions. A name for the subdivision has not been determined yet, he said.
Jason Carmack, a resident on Essex Drive — the entrance road for Forest Parks — expressed concerns about traffic intersections.
“I’ve seen a lot of fatalities. I’ve been a police officer for 25 years, and I’ve spent a good portion of time in a traffic-homicide unit, so it’s very close to home,” Carmack said. “I’ve seen a lot of fatalities on 280 in particular. I see my kids, my neighbor’s kids drive the intersection. I see my neighbors drive the intersection, and it’s terrible, and until the intersection is fixed, I just don’t think we ought to be adding any homes.”
Heidi Messier, another resident of Forest Parks, said everyone is aware that the quantity of traffic going in and out of Chelsea on U.S. 280 has grown leaps and bounds from when Forest Parks was first developed almost 30 years ago.
“Without any changes to the intersection, this has made entering and exiting the neighborhood for our residents quite dangerous, and we know that our up-and-coming Chelsea businesses are going to continue to increase traffic on this stretch of Highway 280,” Messier said.
She urged the council to be proactive in making decisions in regard to this development.
“Please, let us not have any fatalities at this intersection before something can be done,” she said. “Please do not approve any rezoning request that uses Essex Drive as its access point.”
Farmer said he understands residents’ concerns but said these 20 proposed new homes are close to the intersection with U.S. 280 and won’t require a long feeder street to get to the highway. “I don’t feel like adding 20 homes to an existing neighborhood will create a significant issue,” he said.
Traffic is an issue all over Shelby County, Farmer said. “It’s the fastest growing county in the state, and Highway 280 is the fastest growing corridor in the fastest growing county, so you know anything that’s done up and down 280 is going to create a traffic issue,” he said.
Mayor Cody Sumners said issues related to the intersection of Essex Drive and U.S. 280 would require intervention by the Alabama Department of Transportation because the state controls that.
Residents a few months ago expressed concerns not only about traffic, but also about noise, road damage and decreased property values. The developer met with residents and reached an agreement on many concerns. The Chelsea Planning Commission on May 20 recommended the City Council approve the rezoning request with certain conditions:
- There can be no more than 20 lots on the 28 acres
- Lots must be at least .8 acres each and 125 feet wide
- Lots could not be further subdivided
- The developer must put up a $15,000 bond to cover road damage during construction
- There must be a 30-foot undisturbed buffer adjoining existing houses
- The developer cannot blast on the property, instead using only rock hammers
Additional guidelines were specific to the neighborhood’s covenants and restrictions, but no agreement was reached with the homeowners association for Forest Parks concerning traffic.
The second public hearing Tuesday night involved a proposal to rezone 17 acres along Brasher Lane and U.S. 280 from an agricultural-residential zone to a B-2 business district. The proposed concept is a multi-tenant commercial property.
Sumners said initial plans for the property consist of a gas station, two restaurants and an additional facility which has not been determined, but is said to possibly become an entertainment facility of some sort.
Sumners also said there have been no concerns from residents in regard to this development, and no other residents spoke during Tuesday’s public hearing.
Sumners previously said the development does not have a large impact on residential areas and said most people have probably expected it to be commercial.
Both of the rezoning requests discussed on Tuesday evening are slated to be voted on at a City Council meeting on July 7.
In other business Tuesday, the council:
- Approved a resolution to give retirees a one-time bonus of $12 per year of service, costing the city $864
- Approved a resolution to dispose of various city property, including computer equipment, tables and chairs, a sound system, filing cabinet, shaved ice machine, popcorn machine, filing cabinet and an artificial ficus tree.
