DAPHNE, Ala. — Developers for the Bayside Academy theater project returned Wednesday to the Planning Commission at its site review after an unsuccessful attempt last month to get a site plan approved.
Commissioners had raised concerns over alleged past sewage spills on the beach neighboring the Bayside campus.
Architect Bruce Knodel said he conferred with Daphne Utilities operations manager Danny Lyndall who, after reviewing historical documents on the area, found no records of sewage spills on the beach.
“He has no record of sanitary sewage spills in this area,” Knodel said. “He has no information that there have been any spills on that part of the beach.”
Commissioners last month also noted the presence of a historical landmark located in a creek near the Bayside beach which contains American Indian cultural artifacts.
Knodel said that Bayside plans to employ Aerostar, a Florida-based environmental firm that specializes in engineering, environmental and construction services, to oversee development around the historical creek.
Artifacts such as American Indian arrowheads and bottles were found during a 2005 study.
Besides its function as a theater, the building will also be used as an educational complex, the main reason why Knodel’s team originally rejected the city’s idea of moving the site to Belforest.
Keeping the theater at Bayside would allow for students to easily commute across campus to the theater. Moving the site, developers said, would present difficulties for students as they would have to find means of getting to the theater for a class or performance.
The 20.8-acre site is located on the bluff, a patch of land overlooking Mobile Bay.
“How many buildings do we have on the master plan that have yet to be built?” asked commissioner Larry Chason.
“This is the last one,” Knodel said.
“Ya’ll are definitely on top of the situation,” Chason said.
The site plan will be on next week’s Planning Commission business agenda to be voted up or down.
In other business, the commission reviewed a proposed subdivision of three lots in the Renaissance Center development.
The 8.5-acre site is located approximately one-half mile west of Alabama Highway 181 on Renaissance Boulevard.
The project’s goal is to relocate a detention pond currently located on Frederick Boulevard to a site farther away from the front of the property.
Moving the pond would allow for the frontage to be used for more profitable means, according to engineer Trey Jinright.
“By allowing this project to proceed, we can move the detention pond to an unused area,” Jinright said. “The bulk of the project is changing the shape of the pond.”
“It’s a pretty large pond,” Chairman Ed Kirby said.
“It’s a big project,” Jinright said.
Commissioner Cathy Barnette asked if the original pond will be left operational during construction of the new pond.
Jinright confirmed that the old pond will remain operational.
“And the wetlands?” asked Barnette.
“We’re not impacting any wetlands,” Jinright said. “There’s no work being proposed on that side.”
Jinright, in an administrative presentation to the commission, requested the release of two letters of credit totaling $4.1 million.
The credit would be used for the Renaissance subdivision project, for performance surety and recommendation to the City Council for street acceptance.
