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Eastern Shore Centre development tour synopsis

January 1, 2005

I travelled to the Eastern Shore Centre development is located on the eastern side of the Mobile area in the suburb of Spanish Fort.

The was attended by Bent Creek resident and P&Z member Bill Strothers, Councilman Wade Emmert, Councilman Clifford Shaw, Chamber of Commerce President Matt McCormick, P&Z member David Rush, Economic Development Board member Dennis Brock and Scott Emmons.

The tour was conducted by MG Herring Group. Representatives from the Herring Group included M.G. Herring, Gar Herring, and David Stautz. The complex is approximately 70 acres in size. A 4 lane divided road runs past the front of the complex. There is also a 2 lane road that encircles the entire property. The main entrance is located front and center of the property, but there is also access available at the north and south corners. There is a neighborhood located across the 4 lane divided road from the shopping center. There are no houses located directly along the main road as would be the case here in Cedar Hill. The neighborhood is upscale with prices starting at $250,000. There is also a country club with a golf course located in the neighborhood (and within a ¼ mile of the shopping center. Drainage is not an issue, since the neighborhood drains towards the shopping center

The entrance way is heavily landscaped with plants native to the area (Lots of Palm trees). There is extensive landscaping thru out the center. The actual center itself is set fairly far back form the main road with a parking lot in-between. The parking lot is much smaller then you would see in a regional mall since there is a lot of parking available on the boulevards inside the complex. It was Friday evening, the week before Christmas, and most of the spaces in the perimeter parking lots were not being used. I’ll send some pictures that show lighting and other features later this week. It is definitely a first class development catering to affluent customers.

The following are some of the things I learned about the planned project in Cedar Hill:

According to Gar Herring, the current plan is to have 5 entrances to the Cedar Hill center. The main entrance would be located on 1382, with additional entrances available from:

* The 67 service road (between the Target and Kroger center)
* Pleasant Run
* Cedar Hill Road
* Clark Road

It was also suggested that they had come up with a preliminary plan for retaining runoff water (and if I heard them correctly this included retaining water from their upstream neighbors).

Target is dedicating the land behind the Target complex back to the city and they (The Herring Group) would do the same thing with their adjoining land. The plan is to turn that area in to a park with walking trails and such.

The builder wants to take advantage of the natural slope of the land. Along 1382 they are proposing to build up to 6 restaurants (facing 1382). These would be 2 story structures with patios in the rear that overlooked the rest of the complex (towards Pleasant Run Road). The structures toward the Pleasant Run road side of the complex would be single story structures.

The Herring representatives suggested that they had come up with a road configuration that would reduce the amount of traffic on Pleasant Run road. This would include a solution for problematic Strauss Rd./1382 intersection.

They would like to start moving dirt in November.

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