By Kaitlin Candelaria
The Homewood City Council voted at its May 18 meeting to rezone 2814 Linden Ave. to an institutional district despite stringent opposition from business owners in the area.
The 6-3 decision will allow the Cathedral Church of the Advent to create a satellite at the location previously zoned as a central business district property.
According to church officials, the new location will be used mainly before or after regular business hours for activities such as Bible studies.
The main campus of the Cathedral Church of the Advent is in downtown Birmingham, but the church has additional satelite locations in the Five Points area of Birmingham and in Mountain Brook. The church will not renew its lease in Mountain Brook pending its move to Homewood.
According to Homewood city officials, the church will have at least partial use of 70 parking spaces.
“I voted for it because it fits with the city’s master plan,” said Britt Thames, Ward 1 Place 2 representative. “The entire area is mixed use. This will bring people into the city at an off-peak hours time, which is ideal. Our planning commission, which is the recommending body, voted overwhelmingly to approve it.”
Thames, who is a member of Advent, said he felt the church was the least disruptive fit for the area.
“My wife’s restaurant is currently right around the corner from the Mountain Brook location, and to be honest, we didn’t even know it was there until recently,” Thames said.
Business owners attended both the May 11 and the May 18 council meetings to voice concerns about the impact the satellite church would have on the area, which already has traffic and parking issues.
“As anyone who comes downtown during lunchtime knows, downtown Homewood has a public parking problem,” said Tricia McCain, co-owner of Homewood Toy and Hobby. “It’s not a good idea for the businesses that are already here.”
McCain and her husband, Kevin, presented a petition to the council at the May 11 meeting. The petition had over 100 signatures from business owners and property owners in the area who were opposed to the rezoning.
“I’m really appalled the council rezoned it,” McCain said. “Every person that stood up and spoke at the council meeting who was a property owner was against it. They’re not listening to the businesses.”
Council president Bruce Limbaugh voted against the proposal along with Peter Wright and Michael Hallman.
“We certainly have no issue with the church being added to our community,” Limbaugh said. “I think that the plan itself for the building was good, but the concern of course was the parking. You just don’t know what the unintended consequences of this sort of move will be. It’s passed now, so we’ll move forward, and I have faith that the church officials will keep their commitment about having enough parking places.”
Unintended consequences were another popular topic among business owners at the council’s May 11 meeting. It’s still a prevalent concern with the approval of the rezoning.
“If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I would have told you we’d never be open on Sunday, but you know what? Now we’re open on Sundays during Christmastime because we have to be to compete,” McCain said. “So what happens when the church starts to grow? It’s going to cause a lot of problems. This is a business district, and we don’t need a church in the middle of it.”
Despite the controversial decision, church officials said they are looking forward to being in the Homewood community.
“We really love being in Mountain Brook Village, but the space we occupy just isn’t conducive to what we’re trying to do,” said Andrew Pearson, dean. “Our move to Homewood isn’t an expansion, it’s just that most of our members live Over the Mountain, and this location is more convenient for them.”
Thames said he also is looking forward to the church’s presence in Homewood and thinks if anything it will contribute to business in the area.
“Our experience in Mountain Brook has been that it’s brought people to the area who in turn frequent the restaurants and coffee shops and things like that,” Thames said. “The Advent really has an interest in getting involved in the community. They’re going to reach out to our arts council to see how they can be involved going forward in events.”
