Mayor Boutros seeking to combine city lots

Pierre Boutros, mayor of the city of Birmingham, a ceremonial position, is seeking a lot combination approval on Frank Street, even though the city commission had stated at a recent meeting it would not approve any more, yet at the commission meeting on Monday, May 11, he requested that a public hearing on it be placed on the June 8 agenda. The June 8 city commission meeting is one week prior to the annual city commission/planning board workshop, on June 15, when lot combinations is set to be discussed. The city commission may ask the planning board to review the matter and come back to the commission with recommendations. At a series of recent commission meetings, commissioners had stated that no more lot combinations could go forward until the planning board had reviewed it and came back with recommendations. At the May 11 meeting, a resolution to set June 8 for a public hearing to consider the proposed lot combination of 211 and 227 W. Frank Street was on the consent agenda. In the commission agenda, a letter from Boutros stated, “I am requesting this combination since our current house on Hawthorne in the city no longer meets our needs … these two lots are 40 feet in width… We do not anticipate requesting any building variances at this time for the construction of a home on the combined lots … Our new home will be a major upgrade to this very visible corner.”