The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a major plan that will guide development in the eastern part of the city for decades to come.

Local officials call it the Eastern Framework Rezoning Plan, and it includes 19 neighborhoods in the communities of East Birmingham, Airport Hills, East Lake and Woodlawn.

The framework was developed under the city’s 2013 Comprehensive Plan, and it “translates citywide goals into localized strategies for land use, housing, transportation, economic development and public space,” according to the city’s website.

One example of the policies called for in the plan is an effort to change the zoning of existing industrial sites that are no longer in use to allow for more development opportunities.

“We want to see more transit-oriented development. Where there are people, there will be transit lines, shops and growth,” said Councilor Josh Vasa, who co-chairs the council’s Planning and Zoning Committee. “So, from a planning and zoning standpoint, that’s one of the main focuses we had during this process, and I think this plan does a great job of accomplishing that to spur sustainable growth along those corridors.”

The council earlier this month approved the Northside-Southside Rezoning Plan, which includes the neighborhoods of Druid Hills, Fountain Heights and Norwood as well as Five Points South and Glen Iris. City staffers said then that the plan added more mixed-use residential areas and changed zoning on vacant industrial properties to lighter uses.

According to the City of Birmingham’s website, the city contracted with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham to develop the 2013 Comprehensive Plan using the Building Communities Program, which uses a combination of funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a local match from the city.

Foreign Trade Zone

In other business, the council on Tuesday approved an application for a company planning to redevelop the former Judson College campus in Marion to have the site designated a foreign trade zone.

Coldchain Technology Services, a subsidiary of the Texas-based company Callan JMB, is planning to establish a project called the Atlas Complex as a “multi-use campus for international and domestic companies seeking to establish or expand U.S.-based operations,” with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals, according to an announcement of the project by Callan JMB.

According to the International Trade Administration’s website, foreign trade zones allow special customs procedures. “These procedures allow domestic activity involving foreign items to take place prior to formal customs entry. Duty-free treatment is accorded items that are re-exported and duty payment is deferred on items sold in the U.S. market, thus offsetting customs advantages available to overseas producers who compete with producers located in the United States.”

Under the agreement the council approved Tuesday, the city would grant Coldchain the right to use the property as a foreign trade zone for five years, with automatic renewal for successive five-year terms. The company will pay annual operating fees to the city for routine foreign-trade zone operations.

City officials say this move will allow Birmingham and local industries to continue to play a pivotal role in Alabama’s automotive and manufacturing industries, even for those not located in the city limits.

“The benefits of these larger manufacturing plants, like Mercedes, expand into the entire region. We benefit from that type of industry in Birmingham because of the second- and third-tier suppliers that are located here,” said Councilor Hunter Williams, Chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee. “A lot of those parts and supplies used at these plants come from Birmingham. We are going to continue to partner with the state and the Birmingham Business Alliance because these large-scale sites in Alabama benefit Birmingham’s economy in a major way. We have Class 1 railways and five interstates that intersect here, and because of that, we’re able to be a major logistics hub for the entire state.”