The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved zoning amendments that include removing parking minimums citywide, a measure supporters say will make Birmingham more walkable, bikeable and accessible to public transportation.

“Significant portions of our population live day to day without reliable access to an automobile, yet the previous zoning requirements prioritized allocating land for storing privately owned automobiles and growing in a suburban fashion,” Katrina Thomas, director of the Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits, was quoted as saying in a press release. “With the passage of this initiative, the city is primed to establish more affordable housing, infill development, and create a safer built environment for all of its residents.”

According to the release, Birmingham joins more than 70 cities across the country having enacted similar proposals.

Before voting for the changes, the council heard public comments from about 20 residents, the vast majority of which supported the changes.

Phil Amthor, who has been a planner, developer and an employee of the Birmingham Land Bank Authority, said that, in addition to the investment in jobs and more residents, Birmingham will see major cultural development as a result of the parking amendments.

“People will be not in cars and parking lots but interacting, and that’s something that Birmingham needs,” he said.

Paul Godbey, a member of the Southside Neighborhood Association, spoke against the parking amendments Tuesday. He said several Southside apartment complexes have fewer parking spaces than living units, which leads to residents parking on the streets, which in turn leads to car break-ins.

Godbey said several businesses have left the Southside area because of a lack of parking.

“Now you’re going to be getting this situation all over the city,” he said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, city zoning administrator Kim Speorl explained that the initiative approved Tuesday includes five major amendments to city parking ordinances. Those changes are:

• Removing minimum parking requirements.
• Strengthening maximum parking requirements.
• Incentivizing large-scale developers to show the city plans for addressing parking needs.
• Strengthening current bicycle parking requirements.
• Amending residential driveway requirements to call for more homes to have driveways in the rear, accessible by alleyways, to eliminate parking in front yards.

Speorl said the amendments went through an extensive community engagement period that included notification of all 99 neighborhood associations, stakeholder meetings and open house meetings to receive public comment.

City officials said the changes don’t mean that parking spaces will be eliminated for new businesses, only that businesses will have flexibility in their approaches to supporting their customers’ needs.

Speaking in favor of the changes, REV Birmingham President and CEO Dave Fleming said that in the past year, he’s spoken with colleagues in cities that have undertaken similar parking ordinances, and none of them would go back to the old system.

“We don’t want to be a city known for parking; we want to be a city known for quality of life, historic buildings and for growth,” Fleming said.

City Sues Gas Station Over Frequent Violence

The council on Tuesday also heard from Mayor Randall Woodfin, who voiced frustration with the lack of options available to address violence in the city.

“When you get no action at the federal level, and when you get a state that says you don’t even need a permit (for pistols), people still look to the 10 of us — where we can’t even regulate guns,” he said.

Woodfin said his administration will explore possible ordinances to further regulate high-crime spaces.

Woodfin’s comments come on the same day city officials announced the city attorney is suing the owners and operators of properties at 800 and 814 3rd Avenue West due to a high rate of violence at the Shell service station. Third Avenue Ventures and Express Mart of Alabama were named as the owners in the complaint.

Birmingham officials allege in a release that the properties have been “essentially used as a launching pad for criminal activity” including drug activity and violence. In the past two years, Birmingham Police have responded to hundreds of calls at or near the properties. City officials said Birmingham police received more than 50 calls concerning the properties in the past month.

In January, a woman was beaten inside the doorway of the property, abducted and eventually murdered, according to officials. And Saturday night, a shooting occurred at the station that resulted in at least seven injuries and one death.

More Business

Also Tuesday, the council:

• Voted to rescind a $67,000 agreement for a consultant from Newark, New Jersey, to develop a strategy to reduce violent crime in Birmingham. The council approved the agreement on April 16. There was no discussion during Tuesday’s meeting as to the reasons for rescinding the vote. Efforts to reach city officials were not immediately successful Tuesday afternoon.

Approved a resolution accepting a $18,709 proposal from Advanced Roofing Solutions of Northport for Boutwell Auditorium roof and drywall repairs due to water damage.