Cahaba Heights: Bigger, Busier, Better?

VESTAVIA HILLS, AL - Ask Cahaba Heights resident Missy Turner about what she loves about living in her community for as long as she has, and you will get a fascinating glimpse into the history of a community with a humble, yet proud past. However, it is the present and future of the community that has drawn her concern. Since being annexed into the city of Vestavia Hills in 2002, the community of Cahaba Heights has seen its neighborhoods change significantly - new businesses and bigger retail spaces, joining a new school system, new faces, more traffic - and by most measures those changes would be considered positive. But the residents of the community seem split on whether or not "bigger and busier" equal "better."

Cahaba Heights began as the town of New Merkle, named for W.A. Merkle, an engineer who spearheaded the building of a Birmingham Water Works' Cahaba Pumping Station in the area in 1887. The town had blue collar beginnings, and throughout the century maintained much of that same identity. An unincorporated part of Jefferson County, the community even considered starting its own municipal government on more than one occasion, but with a limited tax base remained a part of the county, with its gem of an elementary school being part of the county school system.

When the 1990s brought massive development along the U.S. 280 corridor, the community was destined to either become part of Mountain Brook or part of Vestavia Hills, especially after the building of The Summit shopping center and the influx of traffic that brought through the community. In 1999, Mountain Brook began investigating annexing Cahaba Heights homes near its border as a way to access valuable commercial real estate. The city was still considering it in November 2000 when a Jefferson County probate court ruled the community could not incorporate because it was too close to Birmingham. But Mountain Brook didn't want all of Cahaba Heights, just the retail.

Vestavia Hills eventually won out, and a vote was set for May 12, 2002 for the citizens of the community to decide if they wanted to be annexed or not. As the vote approached, both the Cahaba Heights Citizens Association and the Cahaba Heights Incorporation Committee set up headquarters to try to sway voters. The former was at 3138 Heights Village between the Heights Cafe and Yankee Pizzeria while the latter set up in The Briarwood Thrift Store on Dolly Ridge Road.

The election resulted in a 66 percent voter turnout, a Jefferson County record, with 1,618 votes for annexation and 862 against. On May 20, 2002, the community officially became part of Vestavia Hills, and with it, some changes that many have welcomed, and others lament.

"Vestavia is all about quality of life - education, recreation and strong economics all within the safest environment in Alabama," said Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry. "When annexed, the residents of Cahaba Heights immediately benefited from this culture and the rest of Vestavia benefited from the influx of new residents who make our community even more rich in diverse backgrounds."

Curry said Cahaba Heights offered Vestavia "a real village feel for retail," and added that more retail growth is expected.

"While not as fast as we all hoped, infrastructure improvement is occurring in the Cahaba Heights area with unique retail offerings growing in the area as well," Curry said. "We expect continued retail growth, particularly restaurants, in Cahaba Heights."

Becoming part of the award-winning Vestavia Hills schools system was a plus for Cahaba Heights residents, especially those with school-age kids. And that is the reason cited by most of the proponents of being part of Vestavia for why the community is better off today. It also meant higher property taxes. But one of the divides between those who feel Cahaba Heights is better post-annexation and those who feel it was better beforehand stems partially from why the people live in the community to begin with.

Those who recall fondly the days when Faulk's Drug Store, Armstrong's Gas Station, Western Supermarket, Ms. Myra's and Cahaba Heights Hardware were the retail anchors of the community say they hardly recognize the community anymore, now that Walgreens, Publix, Starbucks and the shopping mecca that is The Summit dominate the commercial aspect of the area. But that may or may not be Vestavia's fault.

Cahaba Heights resident Robert de Buys moved to the community specifically because it had been annexed by Vestavia. "Vestavia Hills meant better schools and that had a strong gentrifying effect, making the area wealthier and adding more families," de Buys said. "When we moved here most homes were occupied by young people in 'starter homes' and retirement aged people. Up until three years ago Cahaba Heights was largely ignored by city hall. Thanks to the last election cycle that has changed. Our needs are being addressed and we're being taken seriously."

de Buys said he feels the complaints that most of the longtime residents of Cahaba Heights have - increased traffic, too much development, higher taxes - do not outweight the perks of being part of Vestavia.

"Cahaba Heights was fated to change even had it not been incorporated," de Buys said. "The location if nothing else seals that fate. If not for Vestavia there would be several hundred new apartments and possibly even more commercial development. The bitter old timers are out of touch with reality."

One of those "old timers" is Missy Turner. Turner said she feels the amenities of being part of Vestavia Hills are not worth the perceived loss of identity she has seen with the old neighborhood. "Home values increasing is cause for celebration," Turner said. "But from the perspective of someone who cherished the close-knit, unpretentious community that Cahaba Heights used to be, the change is difficult. For those who never wanted to be annexed, it's almost unbearable."

Turner said she takes offense to people who view the older homes, older businesses and older residents of the community as outdated and an annoyance. "To me, it feels as if I had a patchwork quilt handmade by my grandmother displayed in my house, then a wealthier guest tells me to throw it out because it's old, used, looks dirty, isn't the latest trend, totally discounting that the quilt is cherished by me because my grandma made it and she is no longer around," Turner said. "And remember, not everyone who lives here desires a contrived 'village' like those in Mountain Brook. For many, CH has always been a village, a community in the truest sense of the word. These are the folks who find the patchwork quilt more meaningful and just as beautiful."

Other residents, such as Mary Frances Peagues Bowles, said one of her issues is that she feels the community is not getting anything better from Vestavia than it was from Jefferson County. "When the discussion of annexation came up the first time, my husband and I were very much on the opposite sides, he was for annexation, and I was very much against," she said. "I remember the first time we got our new tax notice. My husband was shocked. What did we have different from county - garbage collection and recycle?"

She added, "So many of my husband's friends came back to CH to raise their children in the same environment that they had grown up in. That CH community feeling is no longer."

Terry Wright, a 60-year resident of Cahaba Heights, said some of the issues people have with how things have changed since annexation are not necessarily the fault of the annexation. "I read and hear many who complain about the changes brought on by annexation, when most of what they cite was actually already happening or going to happen irrespective of annexation," Wright said. "Yes, there have been changes and not all of them good, but the docile little suburb of Birmingham called Cahaba Heights was changing whether we wanted it to or not. Annexation allowed us the resources to control part of who we would become - without it, we would have lacked sufficient resources to control anything. I lament the smallness and loss of 'community' we felt here years ago, but I also welcome and enjoy the benefits of being part of a thriving and very healthy city."

Wright said he understands the plight of those who have lived in the community for decades and feel they have lost what they love about it, but said he also supported the annexation, and still does. "I supported the annexation and under the same circumstances, would again," he said. "I have many friends here who stood in strong opposition and still wish it had never happened; I understand their views and respect their opinions - we’re still friends. But I believed then and do now, that it was an absolute necessity, because there was no better alternative available to us. Even more so now, 16 years later, I know it was the best decision."

Photos submitted by Missy Turner