Development

Plans for new city hall

The new municipal center in Brookside is under construction.  Plans include city hall, council chambers, and a fire station.

Brookside Founders Cemetery

Funds have been secured to protect the Founder’s Cemetery in Brookside.  The cemetery is located next to the old Brookside school site on Five Mile Creek.  Samford University students and other volunteers cleared the privet and weeds from the cemetery in October 2006.  A Challenge grant from Cawaco RC&D Council will provide the fencing for the cemetery and a historical marker. 

Charrette Planning Results
BROOKSIDE STAKEHOLDER VISIONING RESULTS
January 30, 2006
Visioning generates a common goal, hope, and encouragement; offers a possibility for fundamental change; gives people a sense of control; gives a group something to move toward; and generates creative thinking and passion.
 
To maintain and preserve the small town character and Slovakian architecture and heritage of Brookside while encouraging and accommodating the highest quality residential, commercial and industrial growth that is an environmentally clean and friendly in order to strengthen the local economy and job base and improve the quality of life. Provide park and recreational facilities for the enjoyment of all residents and visitors. Actively market and promote Brookside in order to capitalize on the eco and heritage-tourism opportunities. Continue to provide and improve upon the quality of services and community facilities available to all residents. Provide the highest quality government and development the regulations and tools necessary to implement our plan vision. Housing: Brookside’s vision for future residential development is modern housing that is reflective of the local Slovakian historic architectural character while providing a variety of housing styles, types and price ranges (affordable) in a traditional neighborhood design/new urbanist setting. TND/new urbanist housing (i.e. Blount Springs, Mt. Laurel) with local Slovakian historical architectural character
Modern housing with historic architectural character
Available land for housing/5,500 acres between Old Brookside and Gardendale/Mt. Olive with Northern Beltline access in future
A variety of housing types/styles/price ranges
Appropriate zoning to accommodate a mix of residential types/styles/density
Green buffers between residential developments
Preserve unique character/heritage of old housing in Brookside – connect residential housing areas with greenways and preserve natural landscape

Town Center, Community Facilities and Infrastructure:

• A New Town Center with historic architectural design elements including municipal building (city hall and police department), fire station

• Improved roads (paved)

• Attractive street signs and gateway entrance structures

• Improved drainage facilities

• Sewer system

• New commercial developments in Town Center and neighborhood convenience

• Traditional not strip style, commercial developments

• An amphitheater in Town Center for festivals, concerts, etc.

• A new K-5 Brookside Elementary School (new site needed)

• City school system (long term)

• Utilize old school site for cabins as part of new park

• Need zoning to prohibit porn shops, x-rated movie theaters, liquor stores, etc.

• A new Post Office in the Town Center

• Everyone will have a Brookside address

Commercial:
New commercial developments in Town Center and neighborhood convenience
Traditional not strip style, commercial developments

Natural Environment/Recreation:

• Five Mile Creek Greenway incorporating canoeing launches/trails, camping, biking and picnicking

• Horseshoe Bend Pavilion and Playground

• Preserve historic coke ovens and connect historic sites (cemeteries and water tower, etc.) with greenway trails and rails-to trails

• Preserve natural environment in new developments  

Transportation Goals
If implemented as currently planned, the Northern Beltline will dissect Brookside in half. Current plans do not include offering Brookside direct access onto the Beltline.  Brookside’s new Town Center being constructed as a replacement for the destruction that occurred during the flooding of 2003 will be separated from historic Brookside village. The Beltline will have significant impact on Brookside’s ability to provide physical and emotional connectivity between their town’s historic past and its future.
In addition to bisecting Brookside, the Northern Beltlines current access management calls for extensive acrobatics to transition travelers between Corridor X and the Northern Beltline. To accomplish this task the highway creates additional fragmentation of Brookside while significantly impacting the existing visual and audible qualities of the community.  

 Northern Beltline Bridge
As the Northern Beltline’s potential impact on Brookside’s town character became more and more apparent to Charrette team members, several bridge illustrations began to emerge as different focus groups began to address the issue.
All were motivated by a similar set of criteria:
Brookside’s historic downtown and future Town Center had to offer residents and visitors multimodel (walking, biking, canoeing, driving) access between the two locations. This effort would necessitate ample space for each mode of transportation to move under the Beltline.
The Beltline over pass must be visually attractive. Because the Northern Beltline dissects Brookside in half, and will be easily visible from both historic downtown Brookside and the new Brookside Town Center, the visual character of the overpass could have a dramatic impact on the community and its perception.

During the 2006 charrette, Auburn University students offered several alternative suggestions with regard to the functionality and character of the Beltline overpass.  Some included an expansion bridge approach while others suggested various themes pertaining to Brookside’s strong railway history. It is hoped that this approach would allow the overpass to blend in with the surrounding area offering picture frame views of hill sides and community elements.
Regardless of the efforts made to minimize the negative impact that the Beltline would have on the visual character of Brookside, it was recognized by all that very little could be done to minimize the noise. While the visual and noise impacts are unfortunate, they become especially regrettable as one realizes that Brookside is not currently designated as an interchange location and therefore will gain none of the benefits that the Beltline could offer.

Goals:
Work to make improvements to the existing roadway system in Brookside
Integrate land use/transportation planning with connections/interchanges to Corridor X/I-22 (short term) and Northern Beltline (long term)
Extension of Hillcrest Road (as a county road) that would tie to Brookside-Coalburg Road to provide additional connectivity in Brookside in partnership Graysville
Work with ALDOT to utilize Context Sensitive Design (CSD) in the design and construction of bridge structures for Northern Beltline
Explore grant opportunities for sidewalk projects and bicycle lanes (ALDOT and MPO)
Develop a Sidewalks & Bicycle Master Plan for Brookside
Ensure that connectivity (of historic sites, origins and destinations) is considered in the development of future greenways and rails-to-trails
Develop a Greenways/Rails-to-Trails Master Plan for Brookside
Accommodate different user groups such as hikers, bicyclists, horses and 4-wheelers in the plans for the greenways, etc.
Actively participate in the MPO transportation planning process
Continue to participate in the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership