City leaders react to Huntsville's new land growth
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — New developments are coming to Huntsville after the city annexed nearly 400 acres of land, south of Highway 20 and east of I-65.
The developments should address some issues people living west of Redstone Arsenal have felt for years, but they may also create new challenges.
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The development plans include residential, commercial and recreational spaces. City leaders estimate that 2,500 to 4,000 residential spaces will be built there in the next 10 to 20 years.
Huntsville City Council President John Meredith, who represents District 5 where the annexed land is, said this development will help bridge some residents' quality-of-life gap. Meredith said only three retailers currently call that area home: two gas stations and a Subway.
'There's not much retail; there's food deserts out there,' Meredith said. 'What they clamor for is to not have to drive 10 miles to spend a dollar.'
Meredith said the city felt that economic impact.
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'They're all going to the City of Madison,' Meredith said. 'They're spending their money in the City of Madison, putting a lot of tax dollars there. We need to be able to have the citizens of Huntsville spend money in the City of Huntsville.'
This is an expansion plan that's been in the works for months, with Mayor Tommy Battle saying many eyes and ears have gone into its creation.
'This is not something that somebody takes lightly, they do a lot of research,' Battle said. 'By the time they get ready to go and ready to put this in place, there's been a lot of research done. A lot of people have looked at it.'
But, that does not mean it comes without flaws.
Huntsville City Council Member Michelle Watkins expressed concern about Huntsville City Schools being too far from the property and unable to handle an influx of new students.
Huntsville City Schools said they addressed all of these issues in their Capital Plan by introducing a plan to build a new pre-kindergarten to 8th-grade school in Limestone County for those in West Huntsville for the 2028-2029 school year.
There was no mention of a new high school in the Capital Plan for that area. That makes Columbia High School the closest to the property, over 15 miles and nearly 30 minutes away from it.
'I've talked to the Superintendent; we talked as recently as two days ago,' Battle said. 'And if there's a need for a high school out there, that's always a possibility.'
The mayor added that the development plan is not set in stone, and the city will make changes accordingly as it develops over time.
'The big thing that we have to recognize is this is a 10 or 15-year build-out,' he said. 'It'll be five or six years before you start seeing those students land into those schools at that period. During that five or six years, we'll still be doing planning. We'll still be doing demographics. If we need to grow, we'll continue to grow.'
News 19 reached out to Huntsville City Schools for a statement; the school system said it had nothing to add beyond what is in its Capital Plan.
Battle said people can expect to see more detailed development plans soon.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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