Crestline Pig plans moving forward on new site

A new Piggly Wiggly site is being planned for Crestline Village adjacent to where it was initially announced to be built. The store could open as soon as next summer.

Robert Jolly of Retail Specialists presented information about the plan at the June 23 Mountain Brook City Council meeting.

Original plans called for building on the property where CVS is currently located. However, the site has been adjusted to sit between the current CVS, the Board of Education building and Crestline Elementary’s field.

“When the original location we discussed was removed from consideration, the owners felt that this site actually was much better,” Jolly said. “It fits the city planning better, provides for better access and will be a more pleasing physical addition to the community. Committed to doing what is right for all concerned, the owners are pleased with how this is working out.”

At the council meeting, Jeff Slaton presented a preliminary architecture for a 19,000-20,000-square-foot building with a mezzanine level for storage, which would be comparable to the space in the River Run store and slightly larger than the former Crestline Piggly Wiggly. Its front doors would face the Board of Education building, with possible access and service vehicles coming off of Vine Street. This preliminary plan calls for 98 new parking spaces that would face Regions and the Board of Education building.

Jolly acknowledged that he knows the space for the building and its parking will be tight.

 “We are studying urban village market designs in very densely populated areas,” Jolly said. “There are developments like this all over the country. A lot of these questions are case studies we are able to study, but we don’t have an answer at the moment.”

Council Member Billy Pritchard echoed these ideas: “This is not going to be a grocery store you would see on Montclair Road. There are a lot of factors that will be much different than a typical grocery store.”

A study regarding traffic access from Vine Street for the property has been undertaken, and a report on how traffic flow will work is scheduled to be released soon.

“I can’t tell you how the traffic is going to flow, but we are going to study it I believe this project can help address some of the other traffic issues in the area,” Jolly said, noting that there will be further discussions about parking and traffic specifics for the plan.

Several residents and business owners expressed concerns about the proposed plans.

Chris Hellings, who lives on the 100 block of Dexter Avenue, presented the details of what he called “massive density problems” and traffic and parking issues in the area around the proposed site.

“Nobody wants the Pig to come back more than my wife, but when we start talking about this footprint, we are talking a lot of traffic going a lot of different ways with no way to get there,” Hellings said.

Billy Pritchard responded by saying all the concerns he raised are being taken into consideration and the traffic study will look at a larger surrounding area around the proposed site as well.

Another resident requested that a more organized carpool plan be taken into consideration at Crestline Elementary as a part of this process. Bill Israel addressed concern regarding noise existing in the village, and the owner of a neighboring daycare said she was concerned about the safety of her business’ children.

Retail Specialists is working with both Andy and Stanley Virciglio, owners of the former Crestline store, and Naseem and Basim Ajlouny and family, partners in the River Run store, on its plans.

“We have been working with property owners needed to make plan a reality,” Jolly said. “Those have gone well and we feel like we are working in harmony with the community to make this happen.”