Three properties rezoned at Hamilton Council meeting

HAMILTON — The Hamilton City Council meeting on Monday, July 7, began immediately after two public hearings were held on three separate zoning change considerations.
During the public hearings, those in attendance were invited to speak either for or against the rezoning requests.
The first hearing regarded the rezoning of a 5.22 acre property located on Highway 278 East at 2172 Bexar Avenue East, from an R2 (Multi Family District) to a B1 (General Business District).
Previously, land in the area was rezoned and approved for multi-family, non-governmental housing. Developers now wish to add a small shopping complex to the bottom of the area, to run along the highway.
Local resident Rob Swinney, who had

sold a portion of land to the developers, went on record as being for the project.
“I’d like to speak for it,” Swinney said. “I believe this is a good development for east Hamilton. We need some more businesses on the east side. There’s an industrial park over there, and we don’t have businesses and services to serve those people.
“I watch those people come out of the industrial park beginning at 3 o’clock every day. And from then until 6 p.m., there are cars going past. There’s a lot of people who work over there.
“As I understand it, this would be for a coffee shop, or any type of business that would service the people living in that area, and especially the employees of the business district.”
As Swinney had also previously expressed his interest in the next zoning request, he was asked by the mayor to speak on the next consideration to rezone a 10.98 acre property located on Highway 278 East adjoining property located at 2172 Bexar Avenue East from an R2 (Multi-Family Residential District) to a MH1 (Manufactured Home Park District).
The mayor noted this area was part of the same property as the earlier request on July 7, as well as previously rezoned property to be developed as multifamily and student housing. Besides the businesses below the housing location, developers now want to add an area for tiny homes and cabins up above, designed to be family-friendly and include recreational facilities.
Swinney noted there is a total of 23.3 acres of land included for all three proposed projects.
“This particular one is the back side of the property known as the old gravel pit,” he explained. “This area is not visible from the highway. It’s 10.9 acres where the county and the city have moved gravel out for decades. They’ve depleted all the gravel, so it’s level. It has a firm base. It’s ideal for what we call tiny homes.
“That’s a growing thing now. It’s not mobile homes, it’s tiny homes. I’ll let the project manager, and the man with the money, speak now and answer any questions.”
James Volk of Hermosa Beach, Calif., who also owns property in Hamilton, is the project manager. Volk grew up in his family’s construction business in Indiana,  and built his first home at age 20. This is the first development he’s managed on this scale.
He began by sharing several images with the council and the public in attendance regarding the three phases of the development.
“We are looking at building a first-class facility,” he noted, mentioning he’d spoken with the mayor previously about the lack of housing in the community.
“I think this is a great way to develop housing, and put a great footprint on the dirt here and on Rob’s land, in particular,” he said. “What put it over the edge for me was all the development Rob and Donna did on that property for years to get it to this stage for a development such as this.
“Ultimately, we’re looking at three different phases. One would be putting together a park model home community. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the one going in at Smith Lake. I think they’re putting $10 million in development there, which is not too far from here. They’re putting over 500 homes there.
“This is a big movement that is moving across the country. It’s something that will be very well done.”
Volk also noted the 23 total acres would be developed as three different parcels. Regarding the tiny home community in the top 10 acres, he noted, “They will be all pretty much put together in a similar model, developed with everything from fire pits to a little community center, to a little activity center.
“We’re going to do a walking path around the top 10 acres, and bocce ball courts. These units will be set up for sale, and we’ll also have some units where we can do short term rentals for people coming in and out of town--in a cabin kind of structure and layout. So, we’ll have residential and short term.
“Then on the bottom, this would probably be phase 2 or 3, is where we’d love to put in some commercial aspect, both to facilitate the work we’re going to be doing there and the community and people coming in off the highway and from other places. Coffee shops--you name it--these could be used for anything.”
Regarding the middle of the property, which was already zoned as multi-family, Volk said he’s been looking at developing town homes and student housing.
“Most likely, it’ll be a four-plex  kind of development in a series of structures put together,” he said. “The size and scope of phase 2 is still to be determined, but this is our thinking overall--the master plan.”
Regarding Lonestar Drive, which runs between the top two developments, Volk noted the road will remain open, with hopes it can be leveled and paved in the future.
The mayor confirmed, stating, “The existing road going through the property will be left open.”
Volk explained he will also be putting additional roads into the property, from the highway up to the backside and going around the top 10 acres.
“So that road is very beneficial to our development,” he noted.
No one spoke against the development, but a resident did ask if the business properties on the main highway would be built right up to the property line. Discussion on this matter mentioned there would be some space in between the residences and the business locations, with the land also including a large drainage culvert which must remain in place.
The council asked if any tenants were already lined up for the commercial property
Volk said they were not lined up at this time, as they were wanting to get their feet on the ground first and begin the first two phases and figure out partnerships and leases later.
He also noted the size of the community would depend on the demand and whether the commercial aspect would be a 5,000-square-foot facility or a 25,000-square-foot facility.
“We’re doing due diligence now,” he said. “We will keep the community in step as it’s developed out and look at that. We want the community’s knowledge and input. And to  make it work for the community. We don’t want to do anything that would not be to the community’s benefit.”
Regarding a timeline, Volk said he hopes to get started first on the top 10 acres soon, with civil engineering through Heath Reed (Reed Engineering) beginning immediately, as well as meeting with excavators about putting in sewer lines.
“We’ll put a shovel in the dirt as soon as humanly possible,” he noted. “We’d love to have phase 1 up and running in the next 6-12 months.”
Asked by the council about the tiny home construction, Volk said they would be using as their main manufacturing partner Clayton Homes of Addison and its park model division for the tiny homes, with another company doing the other housing development.
He said his plans call for tiny homes in length and width from 12-15 feet wide up to 45-75 feet long, and 500 to 1,000-square feet.
“Those are some of the general parameters,” he noted. He also explained Clayton builds to the Alabama Manufactured Home standards.
Asked by the mayor if he had any idea of the initial number of homes, Volk said, “Right out of the gate, we’re going to start with 10, just to get it going. And then, on the top 10 acres, we could go as much as 30-plus homes.”
The council noted these 10 acres are located on the southside of Lonestar Drive, with some of the acreage going back into the woods.
Regarding a question by Page about landscaping, Volk noted, “It will be all community-centered. It’s not technically an HOA, but it will all be designed like the images. Everything will be landscaped. Everything in the community will be pristine.”
With no further discussion, the public hearing was closed on the first two zoning considerations.

Forestry
rezoning request
The council then moved to the third and final rezoning matter, which was the request to re-zone Parcel Number 491602030-202009002, located on State Highway 17 from an R1 (Single Family Residential District) to a B1 (General Business District).
This property is owned by the Alabama Forestry Commission, with Marion County Forester Tyler Robison explaining they want to build a pole barn on the land to protect forestry equipment, as well as equipment from other departments.
“This will be for the State of Alabama, for the Forestry Commission,” he noted. “Our goal is to build a pole barn to house our trucks and dozers that respond to wildfires here in Marion County as we help with volunteer and paid fire departments responding to grass/woods fires.”
He explained they wanted to build a 50 x 100 x 15 pole barn to house their equipment and the county EMA trailer, along with county fire departments needing anything housed under the pole barn.
Robison said he hopes to have the barn closed in during the next year. He also noted there is an old well site and an old cement block building on the land, which he will get closed under ADEM and up to code.
“We’ll have it leveled out and put the pole barn there,” he said, noting there is an existing exit there. He said he’ll also be working with DOT to get the road widened for their trucks.
“Our goal is to come in off Smokey Bear Road and build a road around to the property from the back side to Highway 17 so trucks and equipment can be looped in and out easier,” he noted.
There were no questions regarding this request, and the public hearing was closed.
The mayor noted it would be a nice addition to the forestry property and would help keep equipment in better shape.

Regular
meeting actions
The city council quickly moved to their regular meeting. Actions by the council  included:
• Passed Ordinance 2025-4 to approve changing the zoning of 5.22 acres located at 2172 Bexar Avenue East from an R2 (Multi-Family District) to a B1 (General Business District) as presented in the Public Notice Hearing.
• Passed Ordinance 2025-5 to approve changing the zoning of 10.98 acres located on Highway 278 East, which joins property located at 2172 Bexar Avenue East, from an R2 (Multi-Family Residential District) to a MH1 (Manufactured Home Park District) as presented in the Public Notice Hearing. Councilor Scott Tyra abstained from the otherwise unanimous vote, as he is employed at Clayton Homes in Hamilton and the park model homes are being built by Clayton Homes of Addison.
• Passed Ordinance 2025-6 to approve changing the zoning of Parcel #491602030202009002 located on State Highway 17 from an R1 (Single Family Residential District) to a B1 (General Business District) as presented in the Public Notice Hearing.