Board denies landscaping-buffer variance for proposed Rees Street shopping center

The Homewood Board of Zoning Adjustments on Jan. 8 denied a request to reduce the required 15-foot perimeter landscaping buffer to 5 feet for a proposed shopping center at 1707 Rees Street.

The applicant, represented by Lynn Shannon of Shannon Wolczak and Brent Pierce of Gonzales Strength, said the site is narrow and the smaller buffer is necessary to provide parking that makes the retail project viable. Pierce said the developer will plant four-foot evergreen shrubs and 15–20-foot evergreen trees to screen the lot if the variance is approved.

Adjacent property owner Tripp Galloway of Redfish Properties and Lee Maniscalco, who owns the building next door, urged the board to apply the hardship standard uniformly. Galloway said the reduction “appears to be self-created” and warned the board to apply the same scrutiny if nearby property owners later seek relief; Maniscalco described long-standing use of a stub dead-end for parking and a cinder-block-lined canal that complicates access.

Staff explained the city moved parking calculations from a gross to a net method and allows shopping-center classification, which reduced required parking in some cases; staff said the applicant is voluntarily providing more parking than the ordinance requires.

After discussion, a motion to approve the variance failed. Recorded votes were: Miss Childs — No; Mister Nieves — No; Miss Hand — No; Mister Gere — No; Mister Perkle — No. The board announced the variance was denied and directed the applicants to contact Emily Harris for next steps.

The denial leaves the applicant required to meet the 15-foot landscape buffer or pursue other design options or appeals.