§ I. A general description of the area surrounding the Riverchase PUD.

The Riverchase planned unit development area is a tract of land of approximately 2,867 acres located in southern Jefferson and northern Shelby Counties. Riverchase is bounded by Highway 459 on the north; the boundaries of the City of Helena and the City of Pelham on the south; Highway 65 on the east; and the Cahaba River on the west (see Figure 1 "The Riverchase PUD Location Map," dated July 20, 1979).

Riverchase lies within an area of the Birmingham metropolitan area which has been undergoing tremendous development in recent years. Many residential communities are underway in the Cities of Pelham, Alabaster, and Helena. Other residential and planned communities are being developed in the unincorporated areas of Shelby County—the larger ones including Inverness, Meadowbrook, and the United States Steel development, all of which lie along Highway 280 in northern Shelby County. Most of the developed areas of Shelby County immediately adjacent to Riverchase reflect the "strip commercial" type development and "spot zoning" which [are] characteristic of many areas and small cities which develop along major road arteries.

The area adjacent to and north of Riverchase includes the developed area of the City of Hoover and unincorporated areas of Jefferson County. Generally, the area immediately adjacent to Riverchase is developed and/or zoned for commercial and/or multifamily use, including those areas along Lorna Road and United States Highway 31. Scattered development occurs in the areas south of Hoover and to the east and west of Riverchase. These developments are both old and new and basically occur adjacent to the main arteries and through streets of Highway 150 and Lorna Road. (See attached [to original regulations] Figure 2 "Land-Use Map for Property Adjacent to Riverchase," dated July 20, 1979).