On September 8, 2026, the owners of a house on Edgewood Boulevard asked Homewood's Board of Zoning Adjustments for permission to replace and screen a covered deck that was already there. They planned to keep roughly the same footprint. The board said no.
The property already exceeded the city's allowed lot coverage, and the request would have left impervious coverage at 57.92 percent. According to the city's meeting summary, the board found that not knowing about the problem when the home was purchased did not meet the required hardship standard. City staff offered to help the owners find repairs and screening work the code would allow.
In Homewood's older neighborhoods, the figure that limits what you can do after closing is the percentage of the lot already covered by house, driveway, patio and deck. Square footage doesn't decide it, and neither does the asking price. Since January 2025, the board has approved second stories on College Avenue, Forest Drive South, Woodland Drive, Ardsley Place and Peerless Avenue, and it has denied requests to push coverage to 48 percent on Acton Avenue and 53 percent on La Prado Circle.
Two Percentages You Won't See on a Listing
Most of Homewood's older residential streets fall in the Neighborhood Preservation District, or NPD. The Homewood zoning ordinance, most recently revised June 10, 2025, sets two caps for that district. The primary structure can cover no more than 37 percent of the lot, and all impervious surface combined can cover no more than 45 percent.
The second cap covers more than most buyers expect. Driveways, patios, walkways and pool decks all count toward it, and the ordinance is specific about materials. Dense graded aggregate and #57 stone are treated as impervious and can't be used for driveways. A pervious driveway of permeable pavement or pea gravel can count as 50 percent pervious, but only if a registered engineer or landscape architect designs it and the City Engineer approves it. Artificial turf follows the same 50 percent rule with the same professional sign-off. In detached residential districts, turf is allowed in rear yards only.
The city checks these numbers with a survey. Before it approves any permit that adds to or changes a lot, it requires a boundary survey from a professional land surveyor. The ordinance's list includes new homes and additions, plus garages, pools, decks, fences, driveways, hardscape and artificial turf. So even replacing a fence or a driveway can bring a lot's coverage up for review.
Twenty-One Months of Votes, Side by Side
The city posts a summary after every Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting. Read in sequence, the residential cases show a consistent pattern.
| Address | Meeting | Request | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 208 Raleigh Avenue | Jan. 9, 2025 | Side setback cut from 10 ft to 8.8 ft for an addition | Denied |
| 13 Oak Moor Drive | Nov. 6, 2025 | Enclose a nonconforming carport as a bedroom | Denied |
| 800 College Avenue | Dec. 4, 2025 | Rebuild on the existing footprint, building upward | Approved |
| 564 Forest Drive South | Dec. 4, 2025 | Second story over an existing wall | Approved |
| 216 Acton Avenue | Feb. 5, 2026 | 40.8% structure coverage, 48% impervious, 13.5 ft rear setback | Denied |
| 320 La Prado Circle | Mar. 5, 2026 | 53% impervious, 6 ft 7 in side setback | Denied |
| 422 Woodland Drive | Mar. 5, 2026 | Second-story setback | Approved |
| Ardsley Place and Peerless Avenue | Jul. 9, 2026 | Second-story additions | Approved |
| Edgewood Boulevard | Sept. 8, 2026 | Replace deck on a lot at 57.92% impervious | Denied |
| 906 Salter Road | Oct. 1, 2026 | Screened porch into rear setback, with a smaller driveway | Approved |
| 3105 Overton Drive | Oct. 1, 2026 | Side setbacks of 8.4 and 8.3 ft for renovations | Approved |
The same March 5 meeting also turned down requests at 504 Hampton Drive, 301 Ascot Road and 837 Forest Drive. After the Acton Avenue denial, the city titled its own summary of that meeting "BZA Remains Consistent On Setback Relief" and said the decision mattered because it showed the board staying consistent on lot coverage and setback relief.
The Hardship Test Explains the Split
The pattern follows from the variance standard written into the ordinance. Before granting any variance, the board must find that all of a list of conditions exist. The first is "extraordinary and exceptional conditions" peculiar to the property "because of its size, shape or topography." The ordinance then lists what can't count as an unnecessary hardship: proof that a variance would increase financial return, personal or economic hardship, and self-imposed hardship. Any variance granted must be "the minimum adjustment necessary." Under the board's rules, printed in its February 2026 agenda packet, approval also takes four concurring votes. At Oak Moor Drive, the motion to approve fell short of the four required.
Under that standard, a second story usually adds no ground coverage at all. The College Avenue owners proposed keeping their foundation and building up. The Forest Drive South addition went over an existing wall 7.7 feet from the side line, with no change to the first-floor footprint. Both were approved in December 2025.
The October 2026 approvals rested on the land itself. At 906 Salter Road, a steep, narrow lot limited where an addition could go, and the approval came with a smaller driveway that brings the property within the paved-surface limits. At 3105 Overton Drive, the city's summary cites an unusual lot shape, steep terrain, a house already inside the required setbacks, and plans that would also fix drainage problems and failing retaining walls. In July, a pool on Gran Avenue was approved with what the city described as a 105-square-foot increase in impervious surfacing. Its summary says the project would still stay within the maximum, at about 44.6 percent.
The Oak Moor Drive denial shows the other side. The applicant said building elsewhere on the lot would cost far more, and the board responded that personal and financial hardship can't be the legal basis for a variance. In practice, extra space that stays inside the caps is the space you can count on. Above the existing footprint, that usually means a second story. Past the caps, the board needs a reason rooted in the lot's size, shape or slope.
Buying a Lot That's Already Over
The Edgewood Boulevard case should change how buyers look at older Homewood homes. Many were built, paved and added onto over decades, and the current owner may not know where the lot stands against 45 percent. If it is already over, the next owner starts from that number. In the September case, the board found that being unaware of the overage at purchase did not meet the hardship standard.
The 320 La Prado Circle case adds another lesson. Its February hearing was continued because the impervious calculations might not reflect recent changes to the property, including a deck that had been removed and rebuilt. When the case returned in March, it was denied. A rebuilt deck was enough to put the lot's impervious figure in question at the hearing.
Homewood's pace leaves little time to find this out. Greater Alabama MLS figures for September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026 show 341 residential closings citywide at a $565,000 median price, with a median of four days on market. A buyer planning a pool, a wider driveway or a ground-floor primary suite often has days, not weeks, to learn whether the lot can take any of it.
A Short Pre-Offer Routine for Buyers Who Plan to Expand
- Ask the seller for an existing boundary survey, and remember the city requires one before any permit that changes the lot.
- Add up the footprint of the house and every paved or hard surface, and compare the totals with 37 and 45 percent of the lot area.
- Write down the projects you have in mind and sort them into two groups: ones that add ground coverage and ones that go up.
- Look for the site conditions the ordinance recognizes, such as slope, an irregular shape or an unusually narrow lot, since those are what the board has weighed in recent approvals.
- Call Homewood's Department of Engineering and Zoning, listed on board agendas at (205) 332-6854, before you count on any outdoor project.
This is general information drawn from public city records. It isn't legal advice, so confirm your property's zoning and coverage with the city and a licensed surveyor or attorney before you rely on it.
Quick Answers
Does replacing an existing deck or driveway trigger review? The ordinance requires a boundary survey before approving any permit that adds to or changes a lot, including replacement fences and driveways. The September Edgewood Boulevard request was to replace an existing deck.
Can a seller's lot coverage affect what a house is worth to the next buyer? A buyer who plans to expand outward is limited by the coverage the lot already carries. Second-story additions have a steadier record of approval in recent board decisions.
Is artificial turf a way around the cap? Turf can count as 50 percent pervious only with an engineered design and City Engineer approval, and it's limited to rear yards in detached residential districts.
If you're weighing an older Homewood house with plans to add on, or getting ready to list one and want to know where your lot stands, Jake Callahan can help you get the survey ordered, run the coverage numbers and match your renovation plans to what the city has actually approved. Request a free home valuation and consultation to start with the numbers that matter for your lot.
