By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



Developers of a mixed-use land development at the center of a lawsuit are again seeking approval for their project.

At Thursday’s Gardendale Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Randy Brooks presented revised plans to the commission for feedback only. The plans were not being presented formally and no recommendations were made on the project.

Commission Chairman Jack Fields said he had received a letter from Brooks asking for time at the meeting to present the plans and commission members agreed to hear him out.

Brooks is one-half of Gardendale Fifty, LLC along with Gary Travis, former owner of Travis GMAC Realty. The development company has tried since last spring to get approval to rezone about 60 acres of land behind Wal-Mart and adjacent to Caufield Square for a mixed-housing and retail development.

After plans to rezone the property from R-1 [residential] and I-1 [institutional] to R-T [residential town house] were twice turned down by the by the commission and once by the council, the developers filed a lawsuit against the city in May. The lawsuit said the rezoning denial meant the land was of “no economically viable or beneficial use in its present zoning classification” to the developers.

While the lawsuit is in the discovery phase, Brooks said he has not progressed further with litigation because he wants the matter resolved without hard feelings.

“We just want to move on and look at what this can do for the growth of Gardendale,” he said. “We’ve got a new mayor and have some new members on the planning and zoning commission. It’s nice to have people on there who are realistic and had it been that way to start with, there would have been no lawsuit.”

The plans Brooks presented to the commission Thursday night were substantially different than previous plans. Developers had initially planned to build 198 town homes on the property. The buildings would have been separated by 25 to 30 feet.

The latest plan is a mix of town homes, garden homes and also includes an assisted living facility. There are now 115 residential lots separated by 50-foot lots. The assisted living complex will likely accommodate 105 rooms. Brooks said the new design lends itself more to the developers’ target population — senior citizens and the elderly.

He said residents who live in the Magnolia Ridge subdivision located next to the property, had been more complimentary of the new design and were excited about the assisted living facility.

“This gives us three different dimensions — town home, garden home and the facility,” he said. “I think the magnitude of this project shows our commitment to a senior living-type area.”

After a few more engineering modifications, a meeting will likely be set up at the Gardendale Civic Center to give residents a chance to address any concerns about the project.

After that, plans will have to be resubmitted to the commission for review. If the commission grants a favorable recommendation to the project, it will be considered by the council.

Brooks said if the project is given council approval, the lawsuit is a moot point.

“I’ve stepped up and said, ‘I don’t want a lawsuit against the city.’ Nobody wins in those situations,” he said. “We just want what we want, what the city wants and what the neighbors want. I was just trying to protect my rights.”