The Homewood Star | September 2011 |
www.TheHomewoodStar.com
neighborly news & entertainment for Homewood
Volume 1 | Issue 6 | September 2011
Lake Lovers Winners- pg 2
Good People
Samford Football
-pg 14
- pg 12
Getting to know Pat Sullivan By WILL HIGHTOWER Samford head football coach Pat Sullivan is entering his fifth season of coaching the Bulldogs. The Heismanwinning quarterback at Auburn talked with us about his career and the upcoming football season.
By MADOLINE MARKHAM Final phases of Homewood’s Shades Creek Greenway, which runs along Lakeshore Drive and currently ends at Green Springs Highway, are on track to begin in the next year. The Homewood City Council has authorized Mayor Scott McBrayer to proceed with the final consultation and design for the project. When the greenway is completed, you will be able to walk, run or bike from Colonial Brookwood Village to West Homewood Park. In the end, the greenway will connect one university, two high schools, two major shopping areas, six residential neighborhoods, several apartment complexes, office buildings, churches and two existing parks. “Ever since I have been on the city council I have been working to try to get the Greensprings to West Homewood Park plan moving,” said City Council President Allyn Holladay. “I have brought it up every single funding cycle, but the funding mechanism and support have not been
How did you get in to coaching initially? It is something that I always felt compelled to do. My wife, Jean, was a big part in that decision. She told me that I didn’t want to wake up at age 50 and not be doing what I wanted to be doing, which was coaching. It had to be a joint decision because of all the hours it takes. I had been coaching my son, Patrick, in soccer and doing Auburn radio while doing insurance. I had been successful in that, and Jean had been successful in real estate. But we gave it all up when I decided to coach. You recruited Ladainian Tomlinson to play at TCU while you were the head coach there. Could you see the NFL career he had in front of him? You know, you never see that kind of thing. A lot of that is about being in the
See SULLIVAN | page 13
September Features Editor’s Note
2
Mayor’s Minute
4
City Council
5
Making Homewood Home Again 8 10 Lauren Denton Dat Good Sauce
11
Homewood Sports
12
Entrepreneur Spotlight
14
Restaurant Showcase
15
School House
17
Calendar of Events
18
Homewood Happenings
19
Like us
Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Birmingham, AL Permit #656
www.TheHomewoodStar.com
New phases approved for Shades Creek Greenway
See GREENWAY | page 6
Samford head football coach Pat Sullivan. Photo courtesy of Samford Athletics.
Lakeshore property rezoned for Samford By MADOLINE MARKHAM Ten residential lots, including seven homes, on Lakeshore Drive between Samford University and Odum Lane have been rezoned as institutional property. Samford owned the land and requested the rezoning as a part of their master plan for the campus to build more dorms and parking. Council members and residents remain divided on whether this outcome is best for the surrounding neighborhood, but regardless of opinion, the final decision was a compromise between Samford and Homewood. “Not one single person was 100 percent satisfied,” Council President Allyn Holladay said. “That testifies to how much of a compromise it was.” Many residents were in opposition to the rezoning because they feared it would hurt the surrounding neighborhood and property values; they also complained that Samford was not forthcoming about their plans. On July 7, about 50 Homewood residents gathered for a meeting in opposition to the rezoning request. Representatives from Samford, Sarah Latham and Buck Brock, spent three to four weeks in dialogue with neighbors to listen to their concerns and work on a compromise.
c i r b a F of Life
A sign in a yard on Hollywood Boulevard encouraged neighbors to attend the July 25 city council meeting for the vote on rezoning property owned by Samford University. Photo by Madoline Markham. “We tried to learn from what we heard back and spent a lot of time on phone calls and over email listening to neighbors and the city council to form our plan and the covenant,” Latham said.
“It was a really hard process,” council member Jackie Langlow said, “but it was so much more enjoyable because people were really trying to work together.” “The fact that the neighborhood was concerned opened dialogue with Samford that created a better relationship than we’d had in years and made sure the neighborhood would feel comfortable with additional proffers,” Holladay said. On July 25 the Homewood City
Council voted 5-3 in favor of the rezoning request. David Hooks and Hunter Payne, who represent Wards 4 where the affected neighborhoods are located, as well as Walter Jones, voted against it. About three-fourths of the approximately 100 people who attended the meeting walked out of the council chambers after the vote. Three council members were not in attendance for the vote. President Allyn Holladay was unable to be there due to a death in the family but had a statement read in support of the rezoning.
See SAMFORD | page 9
A Father and Sons Operation Mon-Thur: 7-7 Fri: 7-6:30, Sat: 9-4 1915 Oxmoor Rd. • 871.6131 hunterscleaners@gmail.com