DAPHNE, Ala. — Library guests and employees will soon be able to stretch their legs a bit more after the council’s Monday approval of an expansion.

Phase I of the Daphne Public Library’s expansion was unanimously adopted and will include automatic doors, safety gates in the plaza, storage and cataloging work space, a computer lab for classrooms, reference room and a loading dock; the project’s cost won’t exceed $1 million, according to the library board.

“You’ll see a hard-working group of people there struggling under adverse conditions,” Councilman John Lake said, referring to the library’s current state, and need for more space.

Library board members would  stretch the city’s money as far as possible because “they are very frugal individuals,” Lake, a member himself, said.

Future phases would include junior, young adult and adult stack additions, meeting rooms, an auditorium and a coffee shop, according to the board.

More space is needed because inventory has grown by 20,000 since 1998, the board reported; circulation has jumped from more than 100,000 in 1998 to nearly 250,000 last year.

In other business, three public hearings were held regarding:

•Rezoning 10 acres at the northeast corner of Parker Lane and Avery Lane — for patio homes in Madison Place — from R-3 high-density single-family residential zone to  R-4 high-density single family — which would change the width of the lots from 80 feet to 52 feet.

Councilman Bailey Yelding said he’s seen many rezonings from R-3 to R-4 and fears changing infrastructures will further burden roadways.

“It creates more stress on our streets,” he said.

Councilwoman Cathy Barnette, who also sits on the planning commission, said the growth at Madison Place has been planned.

She said the coming city sports complex on Whispering Pines Road would benefit from having families nearby; the commission had discussed cutting trails from the nearby subdivisions to the park to encourage foot traffic, she said.

•Amendments to the land-use ordinance; businesses, in order to get a sign, must obtain a business license. The code enforcement officer will decide on whether the sign is approved within 30 days of request.

•Rezoning of nearly 1 acre at U.S. Highway 98 and Johnson Road from R-4 high-density single-family district to B-2 general business to match the rest of the parcel.

Also Monday, Council members unanimously adopted:

•appointment of City Clerk David Cohen as manager of this year’s municipal election; and

•a Boy Scout’s Eagle project to add a platform on the beach pier at Village Point Park Preserve.