By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A portion of a proposed new neighborhood in southern Alabaster likely will take another step forward in late January, as the City Council is set to hold a public hearing on rezoning a portion of the land for the new development.

The council will hold the public hearing during its Jan. 25 meeting, which is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Alabaster City Hall at 1953 Municipal Way, and likely will vote on the matter the same night.

Developer Jason Spinks is working to bring the new Mallard Landing subdivision to southern Alabaster off Smokey Road near Meadow View Elementary School and the Shelby County Airport.

During a Dec. 15 meeting, the Alabaster Planning and Zoning Commission voted to combine four parcels of property into two parcels to allow for the proposed neighborhood.

One parcel, a 182-acre plot, is set to hold the majority of the new Mallard Landing neighborhood. The other parcel, a 300-acre plot adjacent to the Shelby County Airport, will hold one house, and will primarily remain woodlands, Spinks said.

Because a previous developer planned to construct a neighborhood on the 182-acre parcel off Smokey Road near the airport in the mid-2000s, the land is already zoned as residential to allow for the new neighborhood.

However, the 300-acre plot currently is zoned as a mixture of agricultural, municipal reserve and high-density residential. Spinks is asking the city to rezone the entire 300-acre plot to entirely agricultural.

During its Dec. 15 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend the rezoning, and passed the decision along to the City Council.

“Part of it was left as municipal reserve, and a small portion was zoned for homes and townhomes,” Ward 7 Councilman Tommy Ryals said of the 300-acre parcel.

Spinks previously said he is nearly finished constructing a house on the 300-acre parcel, and likely will put the house up for sale in late January.

The layout and number of lots for the proposed neighborhood on the 182-acre property is still preliminary, and the site plan must be reviewed by the public and the Planning and Zoning Commission before work can begin.