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Politics & Government

Developers Consider the Next Step for Play Birmingham

After the City Commission turned down the site plan May 9, a Dali Group partner said there are no plans to develop the center elsewhere.

What's next for Play Birmingham? Following the City Commission's , developers for the concept aren't sure.

The close vote two weeks ago against the entertainment center, planned by development firm The Dali Restaurant Group, was a major surprise for Dali partner and architect Ron Jona. He and his partners felt that the path had been paved by a , a 5-1 recommendation in April. 

Surprise at congestion issue

Jona said he was surprised that some of the commissioners who voted against the site plan indicated that traffic and pedestrian congestion remained a concern. The City Commission had asked the to research possible foot and vehicular traffic issues that Play Birmingham could cause, and Police Chief Don Studt told the commission in April that the entertainment center would not have an adverse effect on downtown. 

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“I don’t know why (the commission) turned it down because we hadn’t heard any opposing viewpoints before this meeting,” Jona said, referring to the May 9 meeting.

Play Birmingham had come before the commission so it could acquire a special land use permit, required because of the entertainment center's plans for a number of electronic games and activities, including bocce ball, billiards, ski ball, darts, a moon walk, a golf simulator and other modern video games. 

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Studt provided information to the Planning Board, per its request, about traffic accidents in that area and gave an overview of the possible traffic impact if Play Birmingham were to open.

Studt did not offer any recommendations and said it is not his position to do so.

"My role was very limited, and it's not my place to approve or not," he said.

Studt did say it could be expected that traffic would increase if such a business opened in that portion of downtown, but he added that this would be true with any new business that wanted to attract heavy foot traffic.

"If you have a new business, you're going to want people to come, so I don't think (some added traffic congestion) would be unusual," Studt said.

Commissioner Stuart Sherman was one of the four commissioners who voted against the site approval. He said despite some of the information provided by the Police Department to the Planning Board about potential traffic accidents, he still has concerns about traffic congestion and foot traffic.

Sherman also expressed concern over some of the past incidents that he felt led to the debate about a liquor license for , which is owned by the same group looking to open Play Birmingham.

“I think I and some of my fellow commissioners have concerns about how some of those issues are going to be handled,” Sherman said. “I do think this could be a great idea, and it is possible that tweaks can be made. But right now I just want to see how they are going to conduct their operations.” 

Moving forward

Representatives of The Dali Restaurant Group will have to revise their site plan before going before the City Commission again, Sherman said.

At this time, Sherman said he doesn't know of any other developers with interest in the space. The site plan called for 4,840 square feet of space on the main floor and more than 20,000 square feet of space in the basement along North Old Woodward, underneath , another restaurant on that block owned by The Dali Group.

Jona indicated that his ownership group would be happy to work with city commissioners to address any further concerns on these or other issues. Jona said it's "unlikely" another investor will use the space, especially in the way Play Birmingham proposed, and the group doesn't plan to take its concept elsewhere.

“If we can’t make it here, we’re not going to try anywhere else,” Jona said. “The space is perfect for us. So much of it is in the basement, so I’m not sure who else would use it.” 

But Sherman said that with a new site plan, the commission could consider a new proposal by The Dali Group, and he also responded to what he characterized as a rumor about any personal disagreements he has had with some representatives of the group. 

“I can assure you, this is nothing personal, and I may not even recognize any of those gentlemen if they walked down the street,” Sherman said. “We just don’t think this is the best plan right now for our city and for that piece of property.”

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