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to the contractual restriction prohibiting Bell from accessing
its property from Cahaba River Road as evidence. Petitioner
maintains that such a restriction indicates the zoning
commission's desire to insulate the area west of Cahaba River
Road from commercial growth and development. This may very well
be the case, but the existence of the restriction also suggests
that the zoning commission is willing to negotiate the issue of
rezoning. As a result, we decline to construe the restriction,
which is obviously the product of good-faith negotiation, as
strictly as petitioner suggests.
Another indication of the trend toward commercializing the
area north of I-459 is that several investors and developers were
interested in parcels A and B. Although none of the offers or
options to purchase evolved into a sale, none of them were made
or acquired with the expectation of developing the underlying
property for residential purposes. Rather, the investors and
developers expressing interest in such properties all did so with
plans to develop commercially. The offer by Runnion in 1980 was
made with an office development project in mind. The offer made
by Institutional Investment Corp. for the purchase of parcel B
was made with the objective of constructing "commercial
buildings". The agreement between Lincoln and the trustees to
enter into a partnership arrangement also involved plans to
develop property north of I-459 commercially.
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