Apartment developers failed Tuesday to get permission from the city council to build an apartment complex on five acres of property in the Glen Iris neighborhood. The property, which is adjacent to George Ward Park, once belonged to the Knights of Columbus but the city acquired the property in 2004.

During a public hearing that went on for more than two hours, developers Herschel Hamilton and Michael Carpenter of Formation Methods (FM) and their partner, Crowne Development, explained that they had originally proposed building 36 single-family homes on the $1.4 million property, which would have been allowed under the Glen Iris land-use plan.

The developers proposed that the plan be amended to allow their 107 “high-end” apartments to be built instead of the single-family homes.

“Our agreement with the city required us to build town-homes and some single family homes. This has become economically unfeasible,” said Alton Parker, an attorney representing the developers.

Many Glen Iris neighborhood residents attended the hearing and spoke against the complex. The Glen Iris delegation was well prepared - they came with large placards detailing their positions. One of the placards featured a statement from the initial FM proposal which stated that FM thought apartments would “negatively impact” the Glen Iris area.

Councilor William Bell suggested that the city look into purchasing the property back from the developers, but no action was taken on the agenda item. In the end, councilors recommended that the Mayor’s office take up negotiations with the developer.

— Madison Underwood 

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Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford is upset again with city councilors, who he claims are leaking information to the media. In his regularly scheduled comments at the beginning of the council meeting Tuesday, the mayor said he would not tolerate councilors requesting information from the mayor’s office and then giving that information to the media.

Langford acknowledged that Alabama has an open records law, but then after a long pause, he blasted the council for giving information to the press. He claimed that one councilor had requested a copy of Birmingham capital projects to-do list and then gave that list immediately to The Birmingham News.

This isn’t the first such accusation or outburst from the mayor. Last December, Langford said in a committee of a whole meeting that he would fire the city employee who was telling the media about renovation and redecoration of the mayor’s office.

“As soon as I find out who they are, they won’t work here anymore,” Langford said then.

The Birmingham News had put in a public information request for the renovation work orders and invoices after the repairs had become apparent to anyone visiting city hall — mainly because of the smell of wet paint and carpet glue wafting from the mayor’s office, new lighting in the halls and additional audio visual equipment in the council chambers.

Nor does the mayor have the best record with the open records law. In fact, the biggest news out of this morning’s council meeting might be that Langford knows the Alabama Open Records Law exists.

Shortly after being elected to office, the mayor distributed to the council copies of his Birmingham Economic and Community Revitalization Ordinance. The mayor’s office did not give copies to the media or the public, and the mayor’s office had written on the envelopes: “Personal and Confidential. Not for Distribution. Only Mayor May Comment on Contents.”

The mayor’s secrecy was a blatant violation of the Alabama Open Records Law, but the city council leaked the document before media lawsuits became necessary. The media leaks that Langford blasted this morning, at least once saved the city an expensive legal battle it could not possibly win.

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On Tuesday, the Birmingham City Council withheld a liquor license to the new owner of an East Lake Texaco station, at least until he proves the old owners are gone for good. Until then, the council delayed the vote on the liquor license for two months.

Last year, the council revoked the gas station’s business license, after a resident from the neighborhood accused the old owner of assaulting her. Kathleen Bullard told the council that the owner, Ty Nguyen, attacked her after he accused her of stealing a bag of ice. That was only one of several instances, according to residents who picketed the gas station last year. The business was closed briefly last September after a judge’s order upheld the council’s decision, but the store later opened again, supposedly under new ownership but without a liquor license.

This week, the new owner, Giau Le, came before the council for a new liquor license, but some residents claimed he was merely a front for Nguyen. According to several speakers Tuesday, Nguyen and his family still work at the store.

“The same folks are in there frying chicken,” Tommy Wrenn said.

Several councilors and speakers at the council meeting took issue with the Vietamese owners not hiring black employees.

“They will allow the Mexicans to come in and hire them, but they will not allow black people to come in where the Vietnamese have businesses,” one speaker, Gwen Webb, said.

The majority of the councilors voted to give the new owner two months to prove that Nguyen and his family no longer had any role in the business.

“We don’t want a third generation cousin popping up in there,” Council President Carole Smitherman said.

Pleading in broken English, Le said that he would do what the council wanted.

“I promise that in two weeks I will get rid of the Nguyen family,” he said. “Give me my license, please.”

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