Illustration by Sarah Owens
Mountain Brook City Council confirmed Graham Smith as the city's next mayor during Monday night's meeting.
City Manager Sam Gaston, councilor Billy Pritchard and council president Virginia Smith were also recognized for their decades of service by the Alabama League of Municipalities.
The council then held a public hearing regarding amendments to Articles I and XI of the City Code before passing an ordinance to approve the amendments. Article I (Definitions) was amended to include a definition for Free-Standing Emergency Rooms. Article XI (Office Park District) was amended to include the Free-Standing Emergency Rooms in permitted uses on lots that are at least 500 feet from any residential district.
During the public hearing, Grandview Medical Center Chief Administrative Officer Paul Graham, a Mountain Brook resident, gave a presentation explaining the need for the amendment as is related to a development proposal to build a Free-Standing Emergency Room on lots 8 and 9 in Office Park. With the zoning amendments, the proposal will now move forward with a certificate of need application and eventually land in front of the Planning Commission if approved.
Mountain Brook also joined the city of Tuscaloosa in a lawsuit against the state of Alabama over the distribution of the Simplified Sellers Use Tax (SSUT). The SSUT, enacted in 2016, allows online retailers to impose an 8% sales tax at checkout, with the revenue distributed across the state's cities and counties. Mountain Brook is the first to join Tuscaloosa in the suit, stating they are doing so because the city loses out on tax dollars as a result of the law and taxes paid by Mountain Brook residents are then unfairly distributed to other parts of the state.
