Birmingham City Council
Council OKs New Zoning for Small Businesses in Residential Neighborhoods
Birmingham now officially has a zoning distinction that officials say will allow for small businesses in high-density residential neighborhoods while keeping the areas walkable.
“If you can imagine, if a part of town is rezoned to this designation, you will be able to build a structure where the ground level will have a small restaurant or retail space of about 1,500 square feet, and the second floor would be the residential space for the proprietor of the business,” Council President Darrell O’Quinn said. “The goal is to increase density around transit corridors and have more walkable communities to where people don’t have to drive across town for things they need.”
The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the new zoning category, called Urban Neighborhood District. Kim Speorl, the city’s zoning administrator, said it is intended for the border of areas with single-family, duplex townhouses and districts with mixed-use commercial distinctions.
“It’s to help fill that gap in that transitional housing where you go from established single family to a neighborhood that will allow for more housing,” she told the council.
The ordinance lists several attributes for Urban Neighborhood Districts:
- They will be located within a half mile of public transit.
- Buildings should be oriented to the street, with easy pedestrian access.
- Parking should be located in the rear of the parcel or to the side where lots are shallow, or in parking structures or shared parking areas that serve multiple lots.
- Housing options in this district include small-lot single-family residential homes, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, multiplexes and cottage developments.
- Neighborhood businesses serving public uses in this district are limited to bakeries, retail, restaurants and urban groceries.
City officials stressed that, while Tuesday’s vote codified this new zoning designation, a separate process is in place to rezone areas from their current state to Urban Neighborhood Districts. Also, any zoning changes would go before the relevant neighborhood association to receive feedback from residents before they would be presented to the council for approval.
City zoning officials now will focus on identifying areas that would qualify for the distinction.
Before the council’s vote Tuesday, O’Quinn said he was excited to see the change.
“The idea of having a little neighborhood small cafe that you can walk to is one of the features of this zoning designation and something that, in the past couple of decades at least, has not been possible under the current zoning regime,” he said.