SPANISH FORT, Ala.—A businessman petitioning the Planning Commission to move forward with plans to create a crawfish preparation and customer pickup said it is his desire to clean up the property and create an establishment that fits in with the city’s revitalization efforts but said he never anticipated the request creating such logistical turmoil.

Bruce Sanders, who wants to convert a former service-station site at the intersection of Spanish Fort Boulevard and Stanton Road into a crawfish carryout operation, attended Monday’s informal work session to answer any questions that might impede the project’s approval.

 “Hopefully, I’ll be a good neighbor, like I used to be,” Sanders told the commission, minus commissioners Moira Dismuke, Kevin Diamond and Tom Sawyer, who were unable to attend the work session.

Diamond was the most vocal critic of Sanders’ plan during the Planning Commission’s August meeting, questioning whether such an establishment would fit into the city’s intentions through its Comprehensive Plan to create a “walkable city.”

To date, the commission has actually taken issue with the establishment’s crude preliminary site plan and vague description. Specifically, commissioners asked that it be determined whether Sanders is seeking to have it rezoned B-2 as a restaurant or as a seafood retail operation.

Mayor Joe Bonner said he believes seeking a restaurant designation would be “more appropriate” because it allows more flexibility with future uses for the property.

Sanders said it is his desire to do whatever necessary to move the project forward, and he has no problem seeking a restaurant designation even though his tenant does not intend to serve customers on site at this juncture.

“We most certainly want to do what we have to do to make things right,” Sanders said, noting he hired engineering and construction consultant Lt. Col. (Ret.) A. Hudson McDonald from the outset to help navigate any logistical hurdles the request might create.

To date, Sanders and McDonald have successfully negotiated with Baldwin County Sewer Services LLC to provide a sewer hookup within the next 60 days and agreed to convert the existing septic tank into a grease trap. The majority of outstanding questions regarding landscaping and removal of the property’s existing canopy fall to the Alabama Department of Transportation and hinge on future plans to widen Highway 31.

McDonald has already informed the commission his client has no plans to change the existing structure except to have the canopy removed and spruce up the exterior by closing in the garage doors and replacing them with a glass storefront. The existing auto repair shop on the same lot, Harold’s Automotive Repair, will not be affected by the proposed development.

A public hearing on this issue will be held during the commission’s Sept. 14 meeting.

In other business, the commission:

The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Spanish Fort United Methodist Church Prodisee Center, immediately following a 6 p.m. work session.

An informal work session will be held at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 in the conference room at City Hall.