Birmingham City Council

Mayor-Council Act, Which Tilted Power Toward Mayor, Still Under Fire 7 Years After Adoption

The Birmingham City Council approved Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year last week. It was the culmination of the city’s most contentious budgeting process in years. Since Woodfin took office in 2017, almost all of his budgets have passed without any alterations from the council, thanks mostly to state legislation from 2016 that took away their ability to do so. The Mayor-Council Act is the state law governing the separation of powers between the branches of Birmingham’s municipal government, but some argue that changes to the bill approved the year before Woodfin took office have shifted that balance of power too heavily toward the executive. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Bham Budget Passed After Compromise With Councilors; Concerns Remain About the Power of the Mayor’s Office

Birmingham’s most contentious budgeting process in years ended Tuesday with the City Council’s unanimous approval of Mayor Randall Woodfin’s $554.8 million FY 2024 budget. Having extracted a rare compromise from the mayor’s office — nearly half a million dollars redirected from street paving to code enforcement — councilors adopted a conciliatory tone. “I think all of us came away feeling better than we felt before,” said District 3 Councilor Valerie Abbott. Earlier she had complained, “We’re doing all the glitzy things that are so cool. Well, I’m sorry, I’m tired of cool. I would just like for some things to get done.” Councilor Hunter Williams clarified Tuesday that he wasn’t talking about the current mayor when he said last week that state legislators had created “a little king,” but he still worried that the current system under a different mayor could result in no checks and balances in city government. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Birmingham OKs Rezoning in West Birmingham Ahead of Possible Redevelopment Plan

Eight West Birmingham properties have been rezoned to make way for a federally funded “transformation plan” in the city’s Graymont, Smithfield and College Hills neighborhoods. The properties rezoned by the City Council Tuesday include the Smithfield Library, the Smithfield Court Housing Community, the former Hill Elementary School and the former Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity headquarters, all of which were redesignated as either “mixed-use medium” or “multiple-dwelling districts” on Tuesday. The rezoning is intended to support the city’s bid for a Choice Neighborhood Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city has been announced as a finalist for the $50 million grant, which would be used to redevelop much of the area surrounding Legion Field. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Ride Free on the Birmingham Bus Rapid Transit System! (At Least for Now)

The Birmingham Bus Rapid Transit system, also known as Birmingham Xpress, will be free for riders for at least the next few months — though exactly how long remains up in the air. A $300,000 payment approved Tuesday by the Birmingham City Council will cover the cost of eliminating BRT fares while the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority develops a new mobile payment application to encompass all of its services. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Residents Complain About Predatory Towing Downtown, Say It Will Stall Economic Development if Not Fixed

Matt Lyons said he’s not in favor of putting towing companies out of business. “When your car's broken down on the side of the road,” he said, “the tow company is your best friend. That being said, what I'm against is predatory towing, which takes advantage of the citizens of Birmingham only to enrich the owners of companies like Parking Enforcement Systems.” Lyons was among a number of people who paraded to a podium Wednesday night at Boutwell Auditorium to talk about predatory towing practices in Birmingham. He recounted having paid for 3-hour parking as he attended a meeting, returning 30 minutes late to find that his car had been towed away. “I think it's very bad for the image of Birmingham,” he said. City officials attended the meeting and told the crowd there are several measures are being considered to mitigate the towing issue. One calls for a 15-minute grace period before a car could be towed, Julie Barnard of the city attorney’s office said. Others included adding warnings on parking apps to check that entered information was entered correctly, and requiring towing companies to release towed vehicles to owners who have proof they paid for parking. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

City Calls on Neighbors to Cut Overgrown Lots so City Can Concentrate on Parks

The city of Birmingham is shifting its strategy for dealing with overgrown private lots, encouraging landowners and neighbors to take more responsibility instead of relying on the city to address the problem. “The city of Birmingham is not responsible for cutting private property,” Mayor Randall Woodfin told councilors Tuesday. “It is the responsibility of the owner of that private property … . We’ll continue to cut as many as possible, but I believe the public deserves the hard truth: there (are) not enough public tax dollars to cut every private lot, and we probably can’t get to your neighbor’s private lot more than once in a fiscal year.” While the city seeks a “better way,” the mayor encouraged neighborhoods to collectively address overgrown lots themselves. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Need More Room for Garbage? City Says OK to Ordering Another Bin

Birmingham residents living in single-family homes can now order a second city-issued garbage cart. The Birmingham City Council approved revisions to the city’s garbage ordinance on Tuesday that will allow single-family residences to procure a second uniform trash bin for a $120 fee, which will cover the cost of the cart, delivery and one year of once-a-week pickup service. Some non-residential properties also now can purchase up to two uniform trash bins. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

With Increased Revenue, Woodfin’s Budget Proposal Targets Neighborhoods, Youth, Pay Raises and Transportation

Mayor Randall Woodfin revealed his proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year on Tuesday, highlighting its “laser focus commitment” on neighborhood revitalization and youth support services. The proposed $554.8 million budget is significantly larger than last year’s $522.3 million budget, thanks in part to projected increases in business tax revenue (up $12.3 million from last year) and property tax revenue (up $2.8 million). But Woodfin’s proposed budget reflects few differences in priority from the previous year. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Bham Kicks in $1.3M to Build Restaurant in Downtown Parking Deck

A Birmingham restaurant will receive $1.3 million in city incentives to renovate part of a downtown parking deck into a 5,760-square-foot eatery. Yo’ Mama’s, a counter-serve restaurant that has operated on Second Avenue South since 2014, will take over the ground floor of the city-owned Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 3, at 2098 Fourth Avenue North. The deck was initially constructed in 1976 and expanded in 2009, but that expansion left an incomplete, street-level retail space that the Birmingham Parking Authority unsuccessfully attempted to lease out over the subsequent 14 years. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Highland Park Restaurant Plans Set Off Residential Parking Permit Debate

The Birmingham City Council has paved the way for a new restaurant to open in Highland Park, despite residential concerns over traffic and parking capacity. The council approved Tuesday a request to rezone the vacant property at 2614 Highland Ave. to allow for George’s, a new “city tavern” that developers said would hearken back to the nostalgic age of dining. Residents said they already have trouble parking and doubt the neighborhood’s capacity for a full-service restaurant. Read more.

by Sam Prickett