Huntsville planners advance 570-acre zoning; road renamings
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The city sent letters about the name change to 19 property owners along the route. Image: Courtesy of City of Huntsville
More than 570 acres recently annexed into the city are set for a mix of commercial and residential development along the city's Northern Bypass project.
Why it matters: Huntsville continues to grow geographically with big annexations, shaping future land use and the city's character as its population booms.
Zoom in: The City Council on Aug. 14 annexed the 572.48-acre Harris Farm property, located on the north side of Bob Wade Lane at Mt. Lebanon Road.
- "The frontage will be commercial and the back will be residential," Shane Davis, director of urban and economic development, said at the meeting.
- The city Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend rezoning the property into Residence 2, Residence 2-B and Highway Business. The City Council has the final say.
Separately, the board voted 5-4 to designate an extension of State Route 255 — constructed as part of the Northern Bypass — as Martin Luther King, Jr. Highway, including the stretch fronted by the Harris Farm property.
- The extension is not a widening of Bob Wade Lane, Davis said in a statement to Axios Huntsville, as "most of this existing road is being demolished."
Driving the news: Several residents of Bob Wade Lane spoke passionately against the proposal, including Jerry Brooks, who argued that property values tend to drop after streets are renamed to honor King.
- "It shouldn't be that way, but the reality of it is that it is," he said. "And I've got a significant investment in Bob Wade Lane that I made 23 years ago."
- The City Council has the final say in street renaming, too, and will introduce this issue at its Sept. 11 meeting.
- The council will vote on it on Sept. 25, said Thomas Nunez, Huntsville's manager of planning services.
Caveat: He also confirmed that even with the name change, residents could use State Route 255 for their address.
- "In no way, shape, form or fashion is a street name considered in the appraisal value of a piece of property," Nunez said. "Throughout Huntsville we have seen drastic increases in property values."
- Residents will be able to speak to the issue at the September council meetings, he said.
Zoom out: Also approved were recommended name changes for Avocent Way to Old Monrovia Road NW, which is located south of Sanderson Street and west of Wynn Drive.
- Dunlop Blvd. SW is set to be changed to Town Madison Boulevard in the area south of I-565 West and west of Zierdt Road, contingent on a companion vote from the Madison City Council in September.