Huntsville’s growth and development once again became evident with the unanimous approval of a redistricting ordinance at the Dec. 16 Huntsville City Council meeting.

The new district lines for Huntsville’s five City Council and Board of Education districts reflect significant changes in both growth and demographic diversity over the past 10 years. The ordinance will become effective upon publication.

Although local residents Chris Brown, Angela Curry, and Ruby Mixon had also presented redistricting plans, only the plan submitted by the Administration of the City of Huntsville met the guidelines established by the City Council and did not exceed the relative population deviation of plus or minus 5% of the ideal district population of 43,014.

The district population breakdown is as follows:

District 1: 43,524
District 2: 43,197
District 3: 42,498
District 4: 43,666
District 5: 42,185

“The City of Huntsville is pleased to reach this important redistricting milestone,” said Demographer Connie Graham. “We are grateful to the City Council for their support and efforts to ensure the redistricting process was both fair and transparent.”

Screen Shot 2021 12 17 at 10.29.26 Required by federal law every 10 years and based on U.S. Census data, the redistricting process ensures proper representation among the Council and School Board districts. It does not impact school zones that determine where students attend school.

Twelve community meetings were held throughout the redistricting process, including town halls in Council members’ respective districts as well as public hearings at City Hall. The City also provided free online software and a tutorial to anyone wishing to create and submit their own plan to the redistricting team.

“This is a plan we can work with and one that’s fair to all our residents,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “I want to thank our redistricting team for their hard work as well as members of the public who attended meetings, submitted plans or offered input. Transparency and civic engagement are critical pieces of the redistricting process, and I applaud all those who participated.”

District 1 Council member Devyn Keith also expressed his satisfaction with the redistricting plan, noting that the Council actively worked to make sure each district overlapped with respect not only to race, but also to economic status.

“The people who have homes worth a million dollars talk to the same person as those who don’t have homes and live in camps,” Keith stated. “I want every one of my colleagues to feel the

weight of a homeless person as much as they feel the weight of someone who represents the highest level of economic impact. If you move here you should be able to call any corner of this community home.”

In addition to adopting the new redistricting plan, Council members voted to annex a 36.57 acre parcel of land north of University Dr. and west of Wayne Rd. into the City of Huntsville for future development.