New townhomes proposed across from park

By Grace Lovins

The Shain Park Apartments complex on the corner of Townsend and Bates streets in Birmingham is poised to be demolished and replaced by new townhomes after the city’s planning board gave the green light during a preliminary site plan and design review during the Wednesday, May 22, meeting.

Designed by architect Chris Longe of Christopher J. Longe AIA Architecture, who previously worked on the townhomes located on West Brown Street, this site will be home to four single-family residences, each with two-and-a-half stories, direct entry and a private stairway.

Longe told the board that the project is a kind of evolution from the Brown Street development in terms of aesthetic, stating that he aimed to provide the same architectural backdrop for each of the townhomes but that each will have slight differentiations when it comes to the material and detailing.

Each of the units, all over roughly 3,000 square feet, will also have two different terraces separated from their neighboring units by a screen wall. A terrace will be found on the attic and second levels.

The board asked questions about the details of certain elements, including the height of the chimney stacks shown in the renderings and a masonry wall that separates the driveways of the townhomes from the existing residences on the southern side of the development.

Board member Stuart Jeffares said he was concerned over having a solid, concrete or brick structure required by the ordinance considering there is electrical wiring that only hangs about nine feet off the ground. The masonry screen wall is required to be six feet per the ordinance, but planner Brooks Cowan said staff could look at possible alternatives, such as a greenery screen wall, in the ordinance.

With no concerns stated aside from the driveway’s masonry screening, the board unanimously voted 7-0 to approve the preliminary site plan for the Parkview Townhomes. Jason Emerine voted in place of Daniel Share who was absent.