HOMEWOOD, Ala. (WIAT) -- The City of Homewood and the City of Mountain Brook will officially work together on the future of the Brookwood Village site.
In a unanimous vote, the Homewood City Council on Monday approved the Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement that the Mountain Brook City Council passed last week.
The agreement states the cities will work together to figure out what will fill the property and any zoning changes needed, share new net revenues from the site and make joint decisions during the project.
"Because you’ve got a piece of land that’s divided over multiple municipalities, it just makes everything easier if you work together," Homewood Mayor Alex Wyatt said. "It allows for hopefully a development that will be developed in a way that will benefit both cities equally.”
The Brookwood Village site sits on land in Mountain Brook, Homewood and unincorporated Jefferson County. The two cities said they were already working together unofficially to figure out what to put in the buildings with the hope of filling it with businesses that will be beneficial for both cities.
"We can’t be shortsighted in just considering what we want to see in Homewood and then be maybe resentful of what’s over in Mountain Brook," Homewood City Councilor Jennifer Andress said. "Let’s say there’s a fancy hotel on the Mountain Brook side, and then we have retail or what have you. We can’t have anywhere we feel like one side is getting something we’re not getting just because of some imaginary line on the ground.”
Andress said regional cooperation is becoming more common among Jefferson County’s 35 municipalities.
"We have relationships with each other," Andress said. "We work together, and this is a really great example of that. I’m really proud of it and excited that we’re doing this together.”
The Brookwood Village site falls in Andress’ ward. She said her constituents are ready to see action on it.
"It’s a very convenient location," Andress said. "It’s a beautiful site."
With projects of this size, development plans can often take a long time. Wyatt, however, does not think working through two municipalities will slow down the process further.
"If anything, it should create some efficiencies in terms of how the developers come to approach the cities and how they both -- not just the governments -- but the residents of the cities will come to review what the developers put forward and how they consider it,” Wyatt said.
Andress said what will likely happen next is a board will be designed with members from the City of Mountain Brook and City of Homewood to specifically oversee planning of this project.