By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council will decide in the coming weeks if it will vote to annex several properties currently just outside the city’s limits after the property owners recently expressed interest in becoming a part of the city.

During a Nov. 5 work session, the City Council received information about four sets of annexation requests the city recently received – Most of which came as a result of residents wishing for their children to remained zoned for Alabaster schools.

Through a separation agreement between the Shelby County School System and the Alabaster City School System, students zoned for Alabaster schools who do not live in the city limits are being phased out of Alabaster schools over the next few years.

The first annexation request came from four parcels along Mellow Lane, which is off U.S. 31 near the Alabaster-Calera line.

Mellow Lane is accessed by a dirt road, causing concern for some City Council members during the work session. Because Alabaster would assume maintenance of the neighborhood road if it becomes part of the city, council members said they would have to examine the Mellow Lane request further before making a decision on it.

Council members also expressed concern because all Mellow Lane residents were not included on the annexation requests. The city attempts to annex entire subdivisions at a time for the sake of consistency in adding city services to the newly annexed properties, council members said.

The second annexation request came from two lots containing two homes along Crosscut Road, which is near the recently annexed subdivision surrounding Fogle Lake.

Another one of the annexation requests came from one piece of property surrounding Fogle Lake not included in the original annexations surrounding the lake. The property contains one home.

The final annexation request came from a property off Shelby County 12 near the entrance to the Scottsdale subdivision. As the lot currently stands, it would not be in compliance with Alabaster zoning codes, as it contains two houses on a single lot, and would have to be divided into multiple parcels before they could be annexed, council members said.

The City Council likely will vote on the annexations during its Dec. 7 meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at Alabaster City Hall.