Vine Street Pig plans move forward

The Pig is coming back.

The City Council approved rezoning that will allow for a Piggly Wiggly to be built on Vine Street in Crestline at a specially called meeting on Dec. 16.

The store will replace three existing buildings, the Scout House, Please Reply and the Early Learning Center, all of which the council rezoned to commercial development at the meeting. In all, it will feature 28,250 square feet of gross floor area with 90 parking spaces; 49 spaces would be in adjoining gravel lots, 14 in a shared Regions lot and 27 along Vine Street.

The approved plan reflects changes made based on resident input at public hearings.

A service entrance for truck deliveries was moved to the alley that runs parallel to Vine Street south of the store; previous plans called for the entrance to be directly on Vine Street. With this plan trucks will only enter from Church Street instead of travelling on West Jackson.

Furthermore, traffic will only be allowed to exit the store parking lot onto Vine Street and turn left away from the school, not right toward the school.

 “We vetted the plan with Vine Street access closed, and the traffic experts agreed keeping it open is an important part of the plan,” architect Jeffrey Brewer said during a presentation to the council.

Traffic consultant Richard Caudle of Skipper Consulting said the access is necessary for cars to exit in proper traffic flow and to allow better access for those living nearby without driving around to Church Street.

The plan also offers a direct pedestrian crossing from Crestline field or Crestline Elementary to Church Street as well as a new fence and hedge installed between Vine Street and Crestline field.

During a two and half hour hearing in which the revised plan was presented, council member Billy Pritchard noted that the developers have listened to the affected parties’ concerns and tried their best to address them. He said he would motion to approve the rezoning at that meeting, the council decided to follow city attorney Whit Colvin’s recommendation to allow time for “everyone” to see the specifics of the revised plans.

Also at Dec. 16 meeting, the council approved an economic incentive agreement with the developers.

Council member Billy Pritchard outlined the three primary provisions of the drafted agreement at a council work session on Dec. 5.

First, the developer will convey two pieces of property to the city for $1.2 million after the developer makes improvements to them. These properties are one of two parking lots not currently owned by city, and the “Pig Trail” lots to be acquired from Regions Bank that will act as the access point to the new store from Church Street.

The second provision splits sales tax between the city and the developer at the beginning of the store’s life. For the first five years, the split would be 75 percent/25 percent, and after that the split would be 50/50. The total amount would be capped at $4 million.

The city entered a similar agreement for the Piggly Wiggly at River Run, Publix on Overton Road and Cahaba Village, and all were paid earlier than their 15-year expiration limit. Lane Parke’s expiration for a similar agreement is 20 years.

The funds under discussion would have to be earned by the developer before they receive it, City Attorney Whit Colvin clarified.

The final provision is regarding ad valorem tax, which is also similar to previous agreements. If the store performs better than projected, it will have the opportunity to receive a portion of city’s ad valorem tax that could be around $26,000 depending on the property value assessment. The tax abatement provision would end after 15 years.

 “All the previous developments have satisfied early, but there is no guarantee this one will,” City Clerk/CFO Steve Boone said. “But the cap protects you in this case.”

An additional provision of the document gives the city an option to purchase the grocery building if it were to cease to operate as a community grocery store. This was not in previous agreements with developers, but Colvin said it seemed appropriate because of the store’s location.