Foley City Council OKs greenbelt zones for new neighborhoods — what that means

FOLEY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — The Foley City Council voted to approve greenbelt zones for new developments.

According to a city news release, the greenbelt zones will provide buffers between new developments and major roads in Foley.

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"This would be a buffer area that will be required when you have residential development abutting arterial and collector roadways in the city," Foley Executive Director of Infrastructure and Development Wayne Dyess said. "This area would be a green space. You could have sidewalks, lighting community walls, or fences in this area. This is designed to create a more pleasant traveling environment, but to also create noise and visual barrier for the neighborhoods that are next to these arterial roadways."

Greenbelt zones will include landscaping, trees, shrubs, and ground cover, which creates a barrier along the subdivision's front perimeter. The zones will be at least 25 feet wide.

Dyess said the ordinance passed by the city council will give the city's planning commission flexibility to suit the requirements for a location.

"It is flexible enough to allow the Planning Commission to modify this where conditions might dictate," Dyess said. "Those areas would specifically relate to the particular development around it to make sure it's in the context of the surroundings."

Modifications could be allowed in areas such as the downtown central business area, adjacent downtown neighborhoods, village centers with high street connectivity, and developments with superior design because the greenbelt might not align with the surrounding or adjacent development context.

The city release said the zones will mitigate the canyon-like effect of long rows of fences along major streets next to subdivisions. City officials said that landscaping will break up the lines and soften the appearance of perimeter fencing on a subdivision's boundary.

Foley Public Works officials are planning to plant trees along municipal rights-of-way and are collaborating with a landscape architect in the project for location, design and species recommendations.

Replanting trees is part of the city's larger project to reestablish the canopy that was lost during Hurricane Sally in 2020.

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City officials said the ordinance does not apply to existing subdivisions and will only be required for future developments.

The ordinance said subdivision property owners associations or the homeowner association will maintain the greenbelt zones.