Council approves Northeast rezoning after assurances conservation easements will be recorded

The Birmingham City Council voted to adopt an ordinance changing zoning district boundaries across the Northeast framework plan area, a measure planners said will reinforce protections for land around the Cahaba watershed.

Planning staff told the council they had received a letter from the Water Works Board and the state Attorney General's office indicating the agencies are in communication and that "they'll be able to do that within the next 30 to 45 days," meaning conservation easements on affected parcels would be recorded, staff said. Planning staff argued the zoning change, paired with recorded easements, would preserve watershed protection long term.

"This process has daylighted the issue," planning staff said, adding that the holding zone district is the most restrictive district the city uses and that the proposed conservation district draft should be ready for council review in October. Staff said the changes would keep much of the area restricted to low‑density uses.

Residents and watershed advocates urged the council not to delay. "We need to deal with it while the problem is small," said Keith Williams, a resident who asked the council to expedite legal protections. Bobbie Rhodes, whose property borders the Little Cahaba River, handed council members copies of settlement and acquisition agreements she said obligate the Water Works Board and the city to protect the system's real estate with conservation easements.

Other speakers raised specific concerns about undocumented clearing and sites that appear to have been stripped to the water's edge, and asked the council to confirm how the Water Works Board had handled previous proposals on watershed properties.

Council members debated where authority lay for enforcement: some said the Water Works Board must record and enforce easements, others said the council's holding‑zone rezoning would add protections now and could be supplemented later by a formal conservation district. After discussion, the council adopted the rezoning ordinance.

The council concluded the item with a formal vote; the chair announced the ordinance passed. The council's action changes zoning maps to reflect holding‑zone protections in the Northeast plan area; staff said the recorded easements will further define permitted and prohibited uses once filed.

Next steps: staff expects drafts of a conservation district ordinance to return to the council for consideration and said it will follow up with the Water Works Board on the easement recording timeline.