Pre-Council Meeting - May 11, 2026 At this Pre-council meeting, city leaders reviewed the results of a major resident survey that showed extremely high satisfaction with life in Homewood, city services, schools, parks, public safety, and overall quality of life. Residents identified key priorities for the future, including preserving Homewood’s character and green space, improving traffic flow, maintaining streets and sidewalks, addressing stormwater and drainage issues, and continuing to build a vibrant downtown. Council members also discussed sidewalk improvement plans along Oxmoor Road tied to a Jefferson County Safe Streets grant application, new flexibility for small department budget transfers, a proposed residential permit fee supporting construction workforce training programs, and several property and alley related requests that will move to future public hearings. Agenda: https://bit.ly/3Pfx9dD

Help name our bot! We are getting ready to launch a new AI powered assistant on the City of Homewood website. The goal is to help residents quickly find what they need, get answers faster, and connect with city services in just one click. Now comes the fun part! We are inviting the community to help give the ‘Bot' a name. This will become a front facing part of our website for many years to come, and we wanted you to have a chance to help be a part of that. The image you see above is not the planned 'bot' design. Once we have a name, we will design it to be more in line with the name that is chosen as the winner. You can submit your name idea here: https://bit.ly/48Uht6p

Beginning this Monday, May 11, repairs will begin on a large stormwater pipe near Rosedale Drive and 18th Street South. The work is expected to impact traffic in the area for about a week, so please plan ahead and use alternate routes if possible.  The turn lanes heading toward 18th Street and downtown will be heavily impacted and closed at times during the project. The right turn lane will remain open and should not be affected.

The May 7 Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting focused on several residential addition requests and a major corporate relocation tied to new signage approvals. Arlington Properties received approval for new building signage at the 20th Place office tower near Highway 280 and Red Mountain Expressway as the company prepares to relocate its corporate headquarters to Homewood, bringing around 100 employees into the city and filling a large office vacancy. Two homeowners in Edgewood also received approval for second floor additions that stay within their existing home footprints while working around older lot layouts and floodplain limitations. Two previously scheduled cases at Morris Boulevard and Westover Drive were postponed until the June meeting. Agenda: https://bit.ly/4eA3Dts

A group of Samford University architecture students spent this semester studying a very familiar part of our community, the edge of downtown near Rosedale. The project centered on the stretch along 18th Street at the northern edge of downtown Homewood. This is the point where downtown starts to transition and connect into surrounding neighborhoods, especially Rosedale. This is a regular part of the architecture program, using real places to help students work through real situations. This year, they were looking closely at how that part of Homewood functions today and how it could better connect, particularly between downtown and the historic Rosedale neighborhood just behind it. Students took a close look at walkability, public space, and how people move through the area. Some explored ways to add green space and create places people would want to gather. Others focused on how new development could either strengthen or take away from what is already there. Those ideas grew into detailed concepts shaped by both individual work and team effort. As the semester came to a close, all of the concepts and designs were shared with Homewood City leaders and local architects, offering a chance for them to listen and offer feedback. Mayor Jennifer Andress shared that the presentations provided real insight, even in an area she already knows well. She noted that students helped highlight a drop in walkability north of 28th Avenue, which aligns with ongoing conversations about where more work is still needed along that corridor. While these projects are not being selected as official plans, the value comes from what they reveal. What stood out most was the care the students showed toward Rosedale. There was a clear effort to respect its history while still thinking about how the area can grow in a thoughtful way. That balance is not easy, but it came through in many of the designs. City leaders walked away with real gratitude for Samford and the role it plays in offering this kind of learning, which not only shapes students but also brings meaningful insight back into the community.

Upcoming Meetings PUBLIC MEETING 3 The next public meeting will take place Tuesday, May 19 at 6:00pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 2850 19th Street South . The planning team, including Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative and City Explained, Inc., will walk through updates and help guide the discussion. This meeting will be recorded and live streamed . PUBLIC MEETING 4 The following day, Wednesday, May 20 , the team will be set up at the Homewood Board of Education offices at 450 Dale Avenue from 9:00am to 7:00pm . You can stop by at any time during the day to share thoughts, ask questions, or simply learn more about the process. The City of Homewood is working on a city-wide Comprehensive Plan. This plan will serve as a roadmap for how Homewood grows, invests, and serves its residents over the next 25 years. Homewood’s current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2007. Since then, a lot has changed, and more change is coming. With the city moving to a Council-Manager form of government , this is a key time to clarify what matters most to residents. The plan will help inform capital improvements, public service priorities, housing trends, transportation needs, and future land use. It will also give newly elected officials clear direction on what the community values. Your Voice, Your City Every resident will have a chance to be involved. This isn’t just a document, it’s a shared vision for Homewood’s future, shaped by the people who live here. The plan will reflect the needs of each of the city’s four wards and identify short, medium, and long-term projects for both public and private investment. Whether it's about where new housing fits, what kinds of businesses we want, or how we move around, this process is about making those choices together. Previous Meetings PUBLIC MEETING 2 Thursday, January 29 PUBLIC MEETING 1 Wednesday, January 28 WATCH WORKSHOP VIDEO

This is a list of the streets that will be getting paved across Homewood throughout the rest of the year. This is part of our ongoing effort to maintain and improve road conditions across the City. You may see periodic lane closures or short delays as work moves from area to area.

Microtransit is officially coming to Homewood, adding an on-demand option to move around our city. It works just like ride sharing whereby riders will be able to request a trip through an app and get picked up nearby, with routes designed in real time to keep trips efficient and wait times low. What makes this especially important is how the pilot is being funded . The initial phase, running from July 2026 through September 2027, is fully funded through the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham , at about $792,000. This allows the city to launch the service without immediate long-term cost commitments. After that, projected annual costs are expected to be around $610,000 to $630,000, depending on how the service is adjusted over time, with up to three vehicles operating during set service hours. This pilot approach gives Homewood time to see how people actually use the system, where demand is strongest, and how the service can be refined. It also keeps flexibility built in, with the ability to adjust hours, coverage, and fleet size based on real data. City leaders are optimistic that this will become a convenient and meaningful way for many in our community to get where they need to go. To learn more about this program check here: https://maxtransit.org/ondemand/ You can also VIEW THE PRESENTATION presented to the Council on April 13, 2026.

Pre-Council Meeting - April 27, 2026 Pre-Council discussed several projects, including improvements to the US 31 pedestrian tunnel and a new parking lot at the former Oxmoor Road Waffle House site, both now heading toward May bid openings. They also discussed a budget transfer to restore a damaged traffic signal and began early conversation around a Central Avenue property tied to access, parking, and future development questions.  Agenda: https://bit.ly/3OK6Xrj