POINT CLEAR, Alabama— An attorney for the owners of a popular wedding and event destination in Point Clear says William and Patricia Dorgan will appeal the Nov. 18 order of the county’s planning department, which found that Dorgan’s Inn has violated zoning law by operating a business in a residential area.

The zoning determination by Baldwin County Planning Director Vince Jackson ordered that all activities associated with the wedding and event aspects of Dorgan’s Inn, including advertising, future bookings, overnight accommodations and use of a large parking lot on Scenic Highway 98, must be discontinued within 30 days.

“The Dorgans will not be deterred by this preliminary finding,” Mobile attorney Chad Marchand said in a prepared statement last Wednesday. “They intend on appealing the decision to the Baldwin County District 2 Board of Adjustment and beyond, if necessary. The Dorgans believe they have been blessed with having the opportunity to own such a beautiful piece of property on Mobile Bay, and they are determined to be able to share it with others.”

Jackson informed the Dorgans they have 30 days from receipt of his letter to appeal the determination to the local zoning board. They also could petition in the future to have the property rezoned as a local business district, a designation where a wedding and event business would be allowed, he stated.

“The (county’s) letter stands on its own. It’s a complete and thorough analysis,” said John Carden, president of the 200-member Point Clear Property Owners Association, which filed a complaint with the county about Dorgan’s Inn that resulted in the recent decision. “I would imagine as a whole for our organization that this was a welcome determination, and we’re just going to have to wait and see how it proceeds.”

If the Dorgans appeal the determination, the case will probably be heard at the January meeting of the zoning board, Jackson said.

In August, the Dorgans appeared before that same zoning board, seeking bed-and-breakfast status for several buildings on their property, which the board denied.

Located south of County Road 32 on Scenic Highway 98, the gated property of Dorgan’s Inn with its landscaped grounds and spacious bay front home and cottages gained prominence this year as a primary film location for Country Music Television’s hit reality dating show, “Sweet Home Alabama.” In the current season now under way, all 22 female contestants stayed at Dorgan’s Inn, which is identified as their living quarters in each episode.

“Almost every Saturday night, six months out of the year, there is a wedding reception or other event with outside music, generally a live band,” said Albert Key, who lives several houses north of Dorgan’s Inn, and also filed a complaint with the county leading to the recent decision. “The Dorgans advertise to host these events on their own website, in magazines, by signage on Scenic 98, and even on the roof of their pier. The guests number in the hundreds. The Dorgans’ fee for ‘sharing’ their ‘beautiful piece of property’ was about $9,000 a day, according to a recent rate list, including the parking lot, security service and overnight lodging for some guests.”

Jackson’s Nov. 18 determination letter identified three main issues involving the Dorgan’s Inn property: “the hosting of frequent, large weddings, receptions and other events as a commercial use on residential property; the provision of overnight lodging on a for-profit basis; and the use of residential property for a parking lot.”

That letter stated that the hosting of weddings and other events “rises to the level of a wedding/event center which is a commercial use and which is not allowed under the (residential) zoning designations.”

The Dorgans’ attorney argued in his statement last week that the county’s determination is similar to the city of Fairhope’s controversial passing of a noise ordinance last year, which was initiated, he said, by a “small minority of people.”

“Recently in Fairhope, noise that rises to the level of simple conversation was prohibited because of a few complaints, and now, in Point Clear, the celebration of weddings on private property during a small portion of the year is declared unlawful because of the complaints of a small minority,” Marchand stated. “(The Dorgans) strongly disagree with this conclusion and believe that it was made in an arbitrary and capricious fashion. Such a conclusion could have a severe chilling effect on all Baldwin County property owners, especially those that choose to rent their homes to guest for short periods of time.”

Editor’s note: Mike Odom lives on property adjacent to Dorgan’s Inn. He first wrote about the issue in 2009.