Fairhope imposes subdivision moratorium in planning jurisdiction

FAIRHOPE – Citing "explosive growth," the Fairhope City Council voted Monday, Dec. 13, to impose a stop to accepting requests for new subdivisions for the next year in areas outside the city limits, but under municipal control.
The council voted to approve a 12-month moratorium on subdivision requests and multiple occupancy projects on areas within the Fairhope planning jurisdiction. The moratorium will not apply to any projects already approved by the city, even if construction on those projects has not started, officials said.
Mayor Sherry Sullivan said the city has to have time to prepare for growth and not react to proposed development. She said growth is increasing the demand for services from city departments, particularly utilities.
"This will give us a chance to look at the upgrades that need to be done, to have a good plan in place to get those upgrades done and to start some of this so we're not taxing our systems as much," Sullivan said. "It's not fair to the people who live here, who have lived here, who continue to see that we have water main breaks and those kinds of things and there's outside forces that happen, contractors and that kind of stuff, but we are putting a strain on our systems, and we need a chance to step back, take a breath and come up with a plan that is going to take Fairhope into the future."
Council President Jimmy Conyers said much of the development in the area is taking place just outside the city limits in the Fairhope extraterritorial jurisdiction.

"The issue is mostly what's happening outside of our city limits in the county within our ETJ," Conyers said. "That's where we're seeing the most rampant growth and frankly not only the Planning Department, but utilities infrastructure are just having a really difficult time keeping up. They're doing a great job, but it's coming faster than what y'all can address."
Councilman Corey Martin said the city is working on developing a comprehensive land-use plan and the moratorium will give officials and residents time to study growth in the areas.
"I think this is a great time to do this, particularly because we're in the process of doing our comprehensive plan and this moratorium will follow that comprehensive plan and give us as a council and the mayor an opportunity to kind of mitigate some of the development that's going on so we can control our boundaries and educate the public as to what zoned and unzoned is," Martin said.
Resident Kendall Eringman said she supported the moratorium.
"I'm a long time Fairhope resident," she said. "My grandparents had lived in the same house that I now live in, and we have watched our city grow and it's healthy at a certain pace and y'all are recognizing that and we're so grateful for you considering this moratorium just to take a moment to breath and to do it in a healthy way that benefits our city and our residents and it's not quite so overwhelming."
She said she is concerned that a multi-occupancy development is planned near her home.
"It just feels so imposing and threatening being so close where we are a small community and we still have that small town, small country feel," Eringman said. "It's very threatening to us to have that come so close to home."
Resident Elizabeth Gable Wilson said residents in some areas of the planning jurisdiction are seeking a zoning vote, but the city needs to restrict development until that referendum is completed in 2022.
"Their concerns are the growth and not having a voice in what is said," Wilson said. "They would like to be notified when these developments come in. They would like for them not to be so dense. The density of the developments is a major issue.
Conyers said that while the moratorium will affect future plans for development, any projects that have already been submitted to the city could still move forward.
"There are projects that have either been preapproved but have not started building or they are already in process," Conyers said. "The developers have spent lots of money. While this is being considered tonight by the council, if it does pass that does not mean you will not see some construction in areas that you currently don't see it."
Councilman Jack Burrell said he supported the moratorium and would like to see some restrictions on subdividing property within the city limits.
"I think this is a great start, but I still think we need to look at other things," Burrell said. "I think we need to look at subdividing property within the city limits as well. And I don't mean subdivisions, I mean the constant subdividing and re-subdividing because we're getting very dense now within our municipal limits and I would like us to start looking at that. It's been looked at before, but it's time to get tough."