Residents express opposition to row houses in Huntsville district

Huntsville resident David Smith admits he is saddened that a number of homes are being demolished to make way for townhouses in a Medical District neighborhood.

He describes the houses as historic, even though the neighborhood is not in a historic district.

And Huntsville Planning Commission Chairman Les Tillery acknowledges that the ten planned townhouses east of Gallatin Street and south of Marsheutz Avenue could change the character of the existing single-family home neighborhood.

4th District Councilman Bill Kling believes the row houses could disrupt the neighborhood in his district.

But the changing character of the neighborhood is just one of the concerns residents raised at both the Huntsville Planning Commission meeting on May 28 and before the Huntsville City Council on June 13.

At its meeting last month, the planning commission approved the floor plan and granted preliminary approval for the terraced houses.

“When you look at this plan, I don’t think you can see anything about the back of these row houses, anything about garages,” said Smith, who lives on nearby Brandon Street. “Is it two-story? There’s not a lot of information about this plan, and that kind of bothers me.”

He fears that the terraced houses will exacerbate the traffic problem in the city center.

“Remember, Marsheutz Street leads directly to Huntsville High School,” Smith told commissioners.

Kathryn Westling, who lives on Poincianna Street, is also concerned about the traffic coming from the row houses, fearing that traffic could lead to a blind curve.

She said children on their way to and from school had knocked over trash cans in the neighborhood.

“It’s a race track every day,” Westling said. “We’ve contacted HPD. We’ve asked for additional support in that area.”

“My question is where are visitors supposed to park,” asked Brandon Street resident Fran Ward. “Will there be parking on Marsheutz? Because as they said, that leads right to Huntsville High School. At 8:30 in the morning, you can’t get out. At 3:30 in the afternoon, you can’t get out.”

Marsheutz Avenue resident Brandon Marino said he would rather not have 20 people parked on the side of the road next to his house.

He and Ward also raised concerns about the impact of the construction on the roads, which Ward said have not been repaved in years.

Marino also asked about the height of the terraced houses, as he is concerned that they could obstruct the view from his house.

Developer addresses concerns

Mark Harris, one of the property owners, addressed these concerns at the Planning Commission meeting.

“We designed them as traditional, all-brick, really attractive townhouses, about 3,000 square feet of living space,” said Harris, who lives in the Marsheutz Avenue neighborhood. “Our intention is to make them very, very beautiful.”

He said developers would spend additional money on landscaping to “try to integrate it into the neighborhood as best as possible.”

Parking, he said, would be created behind the terraced houses, where an alley would be created that would be accessible to the public.

“We have garages in the back, but also a 22-foot deep parking space behind the garage,” Harris said. “So you have a two-car garage and a two-car parking space behind that garage. Guests can park on Marsheutz, just like at my house on Marsheutz.”

Thomas Nunez, director of planning services in Huntsville, also said there was nothing that could prevent parking on Marsheutz.

As for the height of townhouses, Nunez said regulations limit them to 35 feet, or no more than two stories.

Confusion over zoning

The planning staff informed the planning commission that the 4,000 square meter plot of land on which the terraced houses are to be built is designated as residential area 2, in which such buildings are permitted. Nunez also referred to this point at the city council meeting.

Kling had heard concerns that the neighborhood had been rezoned from Residence 1B to Residence 2 to make room for the townhouses, which was echoed by speakers at the City Council meeting.

Westling was among the residents who said they were told their neighborhood had been rezoned from 1B to R2 without notice.

But Nunez said there was “no” request for rezoning.

“It has been divided up, for which only the owners of adjacent properties need to be notified,” he said.

Requests from property owners to change the land use plan must be approved by the Planning Commission in a vote following a public hearing. Neither of these took place at the May 28 meeting.

But even then, Nunez said, the City Council has the final say on any zoning change. He said the Medical District neighborhood is a mix of R2 and R1B zones.

“North of this area are Zone 1B residential homes,” Nunez said.

He said the city’s legal department had verified “that we complied with all rules and regulations.”

Still, Kling wanted the legal department to review the rezoning claims and requested a delay in plans for the townhouses, including the demolition of homes, until the matter was resolved.

But Shane Davis, Huntsville’s director of urban and economic development, said property owners have the right to demolish homes on their property.

And Harris told the planning commission that the houses were beyond repair.

Scott Turner reports for the Huntsville Times.