OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tuscaloosa City Council Meeting - February 10, 2026

City Council Meetings — Tuesday, February 10, 2026
BodyTuscaloosa, Alabama
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateTuesday, February 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 25:22

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

That's right.

0:00

Valentine's Day the 14th.

0:02

All right.

0:03

Is there a motion we approve the minutes?

0:05

So moved.

0:06

Motion second all in favor say aye.

0:08

All right.

0:08

All right.

0:09

Minutes approved.

0:10

Zach.

0:13

You're up first.

0:14

All right.

0:15

Good afternoon.

0:17

Good afternoon.

0:18

So this first one, I've got three rezonings for you, but the first two coincide with each other.

0:24

Um, so it's best to present those together.

0:26

So these first ones are for the McGrife's Ferry Land LLC on New Watermelon Road.

0:34

So this is where that double convenience store gas station kind of thing happened north um north of the river, if you all recall that.

0:42

Norman Crowe's service station.

0:45

Yes, yes, sir.

0:46

So this is a good this is a good thing.

0:48

So there's only going to be one gas station now.

0:51

Um as part of that the previous rezoning.

0:56

So you can see here that these two rezonings, the reason that they're doing this is because they went through the process with their old site plan to rezone specific boundaries based off of what the uses would be.

1:08

So that brown area is MFR.

1:12

So that's where an apartment complex is gonna go, and then the GC is where like more office use is gonna go.

1:19

And so since they've reconfigured the boundaries to align or to create a new site plan, they need to just switch, basically just switch those two rezonings.

1:31

So who got who's the one service station?

1:34

I'm totally confused.

1:35

I am is it Rick Mark and Rick?

1:39

Yes, so Rick is gonna have see that lot number two in that corner.

1:44

He's gonna have his gas station.

1:47

He's gonna have his gas station and convenience store on the corner right there.

1:52

Okay.

1:52

There was gonna be another one just north of that.

1:56

But they've swapped some land to where it to make it work out.

2:00

So the plots now have more land over in the you know the top portion.

2:05

And so they've been able to kind of reconfigure their area where you pull in that down in the bottom middle area is um an apartment complex that was being proposed, and then all kind of up north on the northern section is more like office um kind of area.

2:26

And so when they went through the rezoning initially, they had set their boundaries based off of an old site plan.

2:36

But now that they've not done the now that they're not doing the convenient the second convenience store, they're getting rid of that, they've redone their site plan so that they can you know add some more commercial space and things like that, get rid of the additional gas station.

2:54

Right, exactly.

2:55

And so you said something about apartments, yeah.

2:58

So a portion of so that that bottom building in the middle there, that's always been um an apartment, like an apartment building that they were gonna build.

3:10

So that's not changing, it's just the boundaries need to change to reflect the change in the design of the overall development.

3:17

So they just did a land swap kind of exactly.

3:20

They did a land swap, and through that land swap, they now have to get the zoning right, and so it's literally just you see that blue area, that blue area currently is zone GC, general commercial, based off of the old site plan.

3:34

But as you can see, the apartment complex is now encroaching into that GC area, so they're trying to get all of that to be MFR, the correct zoning district for that apartment complex, and then in turn the northern portion, that red part, currently a zone MFR, they want to go to GC.

3:55

So it's really just kind of switching it around so that the apartment is all on the MFR and the office space retail is all in the GC zoning district.

4:06

Okay, and where are the residents?

4:11

I mean, this was the residents have fractious.

4:15

Right, and I think where is it on this?

4:18

No one showed up for planning commission, no one is reached out to any of us.

4:23

They just really calmed down overnight almost.

4:26

And this is a good thing because the biggest issue is two gas stations.

4:29

You know, but now that they've realized that's not gonna work and they've kind of redone this whole site, this whole development, the both developments have worked together to do that to get a better product for the area.

4:43

So this is a good thing.

4:45

It really does.

4:46

And so what's being sought tonight?

4:48

Two rezoning requests to actually approve the rezoning?

4:53

To approve the basically the switching around of the rezoning?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████54%
Procedural█████████████15%
Environmental Protection█████████11%
Zoning Regulations████████10%
Transportation Safety█████6%
Public Engagement███4%
Summary of Proceedings

Tuscaloosa City Council Meeting - February 10, 2026

The Tuscaloosa City Council met on February 10, 2026, beginning at 7:32 PM, to address zoning changes, liquor license applications, an ALM conference delegation, and a consent agenda containing contracts and budget amendments. The meeting involved staff presentations, council discussion, and votes on several items.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of previous meeting minutes.
  • Authorization for the mayor to execute a cooperative agreement with ADEM for the West Alabama Recycling Program (FY2027).
  • Authorization for a grant application for the 2027 West Alabama Recycling Program ADEM fund grant.
  • Contract with Evaqua Water Technologies (not to exceed $120,000).
  • Minor public works contract with Green Acre Landscape Services LLC ($10,700).
  • Railroad review services agreement with Kansas City Southern Railway Company/CPKC ($17,000).
  • Amendment No. 1 to the professional engineering services contract for Jack Warner Parkway/AL297 intersection improvements (amended amount $287,455).
  • Amendment No. 1 for Phase 8 of Cypress Creek Drainage Improvements (amended amount $273,555).
  • Professional services contract with 49 Degrees LLC for the Sabin Center project ($2,869,912).
  • Amendment No. 1 with 1220 Exhibits for the Sabin Center (deductive $2,867; net contract amount $2,869,912 reported).
  • Amendment No. 3 with Davis Architects for Sabin Center design services (not to exceed $419,888.50).
  • Minor public works contract with Amison Associates ($7,400).
  • Minor public works contract with Patrick Allen Companies ($2,827).
  • Professional services agreement with Herndon Hicks and Associates ($7,900).
  • Purchase of equipment from Energy Systems Southeast LLC for a water sewer generator ($66,970).
  • Amendment No. 6 to FY2026 general fund reserve for future improvement.
  • Introduction of Zoning Amendment No. 28 (amending various sections of Chapter 25).
  • Amendment to Section 19-52A of the Code of Tuscaloosa.
  • Amendment to Exhibits A and B of Section 19-42 regarding water, sewer, and municipal court.
  • Amendment to Section 10-13 of the Code of Tuscaloosa.
  • Amendment No. 7 to FY2026 general fund budget.
  • Setting March 10, 2026 as the public hearing date for Zoning Amendment No. 28.

Discussion Items

  • Rezoning Requests for McGrife's Ferry Land LLC (New Watermelon Road): Two rezoning requests presented together to swap zoning boundaries between General Commercial (GC) and Multi-Family Residential (MFR) on the same development site. The original plan included two gas stations but was revised to a single gas station and a reconfigured site plan. The apartment complex (MFR) and office/retail (GC) areas required zoning alignment. Both requests were recommended by the Planning Commission in December 2025. Council members expressed support, noting the resolution of previous community concerns. The requests were approved unanimously.
  • Rezoning Request for Seth Richardson and Richard Henry (Alberta area): A petition to rezone property from Neighborhood Commercial (NC) to General Commercial (GC). The applicant cited the need for more diverse uses, including larger retail, outdoor storage, car wash, and bar/restaurant (subject to conditional use approval). The Planning Commission voted 5-4 not to recommend the request. Council members expressed strong concerns about potential uses incompatible with nearby public investments (Leland Park, tennis center, new townhomes, bridge lighting) and the city's over $60 million post-2011 tornado redevelopment. Councilman recommended tabling the item for one week to meet with the applicants. The motion to table was agreed to.
  • ABC License Application – Downtown Social LLC: Application for special events retail liquor licenses for two events: (1) Kappa Alpha's 2026 Spring Darty (7 events, February–April, at 416 University Boulevard); (2) Five Gamma Delta's Annual Pig Dinner (March, at 976 University Boulevard). No opposition was raised; the license was approved.
  • ALM Conference Delegation: Council approved sending Councilors Howard, Lanier, and Fail (alternate) to the Alabama League of Municipalities Conference in Montgomery, April 28–May 1, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes: The two McGrife's Ferry rezoning requests were approved unanimously (voice vote). The Richardson/Henry rezoning request was tabled for one week. The ABC license application was approved. The ALM conference delegation was approved. The consent agenda items were presented for approval as a block.
  • Directives: Applicants for the tabled rezoning were directed to meet with council members before the next meeting.
  • Next Steps: The third rezoning will be reconsidered on February 17, 2026. Zoning Amendment No. 28 will have a public hearing on March 10, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

That's right. Valentine's Day the 14th. All right. Is there a motion we approve the minutes? So moved. Motion second all in favor say aye. All right. All right. Minutes approved. Zach. You're up first. All right. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. So this first one, I've got three rezonings for you, but the first two coincide with each other. Um, so it's best to present those together. So these first ones are for the McGrife's Ferry Land LLC on New Watermelon Road. So this is where that double convenience store gas station kind of thing happened north um north of the river, if you all recall that. Norman Crowe's service station. Yes, yes, sir. So this is a good this is a good thing. So there's only going to be one gas station now. Um as part of that the previous rezoning. So you can see here that these two rezonings, the reason that they're doing this is because they went through the process with their old site plan to rezone specific boundaries based off of what the uses would be. So that brown area is MFR. So that's where an apartment complex is gonna go, and then the GC is where like more office use is gonna go. And so since they've reconfigured the boundaries to align or to create a new site plan, they need to just switch, basically just switch those two rezonings. So who got who's the one service station? I'm totally confused. I am is it Rick Mark and Rick? Yes, so Rick is gonna have see that lot number two in that corner. He's gonna have his gas station. He's gonna have his gas station and convenience store on the corner right there. Okay. There was gonna be another one just north of that. But they've swapped some land to where it to make it work out. So the plots now have more land over in the you know the top portion. And so they've been able to kind of reconfigure their area where you pull in that down in the bottom middle area is um an apartment complex that was being proposed, and then all kind of up north on the northern section is more like office um kind of area. And so when they went through the rezoning initially, they had set their boundaries based off of an old site plan. But now that they've not done the now that they're not doing the convenient the second convenience store, they're getting rid of that, they've redone their site plan so that they can you know add some more commercial space and things like that, get rid of the additional gas station. Right, exactly. And so you said something about apartments, yeah. So a portion of so that that bottom building in the middle there, that's always been um an apartment, like an apartment building that they were gonna build. So that's not changing, it's just the boundaries need to change to reflect the change in the design of the overall development. So they just did a land swap kind of exactly. They did a land swap, and through that land swap, they now have to get the zoning right, and so it's literally just you see that blue area, that blue area currently is zone GC, general commercial, based off of the old site plan. But as you can see, the apartment complex is now encroaching into that GC area, so they're trying to get all of that to be MFR, the correct zoning district for that apartment complex, and then in turn the northern portion, that red part, currently a zone MFR, they want to go to GC. So it's really just kind of switching it around so that the apartment is all on the MFR and the office space retail is all in the GC zoning district. Okay, and where are the residents? I mean, this was the residents have fractious.

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