By Anna McFall
The Trussville City Council met Tuesday night at City Hall with good news for the meeting audience.
To open the meeting, members of Boy Scout Troop 216 were present to carry the flags and lead the meeting attendees in prayer. Also present at the council meeting were students from Ms. Cardwell’s AP English class, who were attending the meeting to better understand how local government works.
In official council business, an ordinance was passed to rezone a property located on Pineview Road from being R-3 to R-6 category of land. This property has been on the council’s agenda for weeks, as they have been trying to decide the best way to handle the re-zoning decision. This item was brought to the council by residents of the property who’s home burned down recently.
The Harper family owns the property on Pineview, and wanted to place a manufactured home on the land after their home was destroyed in a blaze.
Zoning regulations in Trussville provide the groundwork for what type of properties can be maintained in the area. The zoning regulations for the property on Pineview Rd. did not allow for manufactured homes to be placed on the property.
The Harper’s have been in negotiations with the council on how to best solve their residency delays, in hopes of the family being allowed to return to their property and to live in a safe structure.
During the meeting, the council unanimously approved to allow the Harper’s property to be re-zoned to allow them to have a manufactured home on the property. Under guidelines set up by the council, certain qualifications and guidelines must be met by the homeowners when they begin working on their new home.
“This will only be allowed to move forward if there is compliance with the council’s wishes,” said Councilman Wayne Taylor.
Some of those regulations include the requirement of a concrete sidewalk to be installed on the property in front of the manufactured home, homeowners will also be expected to maintain the landscaping of their property. Some structural regulations were set forth by the council, including a provision that states the pitch, or angle, of the roof of the home has to be set at 612 or greater, and the residents must install a brick foundation under the manufactured home instead of metal skirting, which is most commonly used around the edges of manufactured homes
.
“The house has to comply with the ordinance, Taylor said. “Plans that don’t comply will not be approved.”
The Harper’s were present at the meeting, and were asked by Councilman Brian Plant if they understood the regulations set forth by the board.
“Yes,” the Harper’s replied.
Council members say they are happy to have this item off of the agenda and are glad that the property owners and the city could reach an agreement.
In other council news, it was reported that home sales in Trussville have been rising in recent months. The council reports that Trussville has seen 10 new homes built this month, 10 were built last month and 19 homes were built in August.
“We are seeing a slight uptick in home sales,” Taylor said.
The estimated buying price of each of these new homes is $350,000, the council noted.
It was also announced at the meeting that a public forum will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to discuss downtown Trussville’s Master Plan.
“The council is encouraging everyone in the community to attend the forum.
“We hope we have a crowd like we did at the last forum,” Taylor said.
The next meeting of the Trussville City Council will be held Oct. 23 and the council workshop will be held Oct. 18.