JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) — New re-zoning requests may be put on hold if the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission votes to approve a 90-day moratorium on high-density rezoning requests at next week’s meeting.
If approved, it could impact developers interested in building higher-density housing in unincorporated areas in Jefferson County.
Jason Wilson with K&K Properties hopes his plans to build 46 homes on 12.2 acres zoned agricultural in McCalla will become a reality after he meets with the Jefferson County Commission next week.
“We look at a lot of the market analysis that we’ve done that show there’s really a huge demand-underserved market in that size and that price range,” Wilson noted.
With the vote on the horizon, Wilson hopes this doesn’t impact the plans he’s been working on since May but he's in it for the long term either way.
“We certainly hope that this is a product that will offer a solution to the community and bring much-needed housing,” he said.
Director of Development Services for Jefferson County Josh Johnson explained that the moratorium is being considered for the benefit of the development services office. The pause on rezoning requests would allow more time to revise its comprehensive plan for the unincorporated parts of the county.
“The idea is not that you cannot build a garden home within unincorporated Jefferson County. The idea is that people want to see a mix of housing types -- based off the results we’ve received -- and maybe not a development that’s just exclusively garden homes or townhomes," Johnson said.
Part of the reason the moratorium is being considered is due to the “proliferation of high-density development” requests they have received in the past.
The Department of Development Services hopes to soon have a new comprehensive plan in place that will meet the desires of the community, which they recently surveyed, who want to see more mixed-use development and mixed residential.