PELL CITY – The owners of the former Avondale Mills plant property are requesting zoning for townhouses and commercial businesses for its 27-acre plot.

Larry Riggins, the city’s building inspector, said the new request is basically the same zoning request Pell City-Tifton Properties, LLC, a subsidiary of Thunder Enterprises of Chattanooga, made more than one year ago.

He said the company refined its plan and improved the conceptual design with more buffers and common areas around a proposed townhouse development.

Riggins said the company is requesting a B-2 zoning, general business, for the property along Cogswell Avenue.

Riggins said Pell City-Tifton Properties, LLC, is asking that the backside of the property, closer to the Mill Village community, be zoned R-4, which would allow for the construction of townhouses.

Last year, the Planning and Zoning Board approved the rezoning request for the property so Cahaba Valley Development Corporation of Birmingham could build an $11 million apartment complex, but the city council later rejected the rezoning proposal by a 4-2 vote.

A representative for Cahaba Valley Development Corporation told the council the development would had pumped more than $250,000 in impact fees alone.

However, some council members questioned the need for more apartments in Pell City, even though city officials approved a large townhouse/apartment development near Jefferson State Community College late last year.

The former Avondale Mills property is currently zoned M-1 for manufacturing.

A public hearing is set for the rezoning request for the property. The public hearing is set for 6 p.m., Thursday, May 24, in the council chambers at City Hall.

Last year, Pell City-Tifton Properties officials compared their planned development to the development south of the Avondale Mills property on U.S. 231, the Maple Village Apartments and the new Publix store development in the South Park Shopping Center.

At one time, the city officials were in negotiation to purchase the Avondale Mills property from Thunder Enterprises. The Chattanooga-based company offered to sell the former Avondale Mills well site along U.S. 231 and the 27-acre Avondale Mills plant site together for $2.2 million.

The company wanted to sell the former plant site “as is,” but the council expressed concerns that it could not spend taxpayer’s money without extensive soil testing of the land, an appraisal and a geological survey of the property.

Mayor Bill Hereford wanted the council to buy the property as a possible new public library site and city park.

Contact David Atchison at datchison@dailyhome.com.