SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Residents voiced concerns during Monday’s City Council meeting regarding what they called “suspicious” activities of certain renters along Artillery Range Road and the perceived, “thoughtless” actions of the absentee landlord allowing the unsavory activity to continue.

Artillery Range Road resident Charles Kettell addressed the council regarding problems he said he’s witnessed on his block regarding a property whose owner resides in Colorado.

Specifically, he cited excessive traffic to the residence, the unkempt appearance of the property and the repeated theft of property and  “intimidation” of neighboring residents by guests staying with the renters.

Kettell said he is concerned the city does not have any ordinance in place governing the landlord-tenant relationship outside of the commercial agreements typically reserved for apartment dwellers and businesses.

Pointing out that the property is zoned single-family dwelling, Kettell takes exception to the fact that numerous cars with license plates from Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida rotate on and off the property drawing large crowds of guests to the home who have engaged in the “verbal harassment” of neighboring property owners as well as the theft of fuel. In addition to the “loud, boisterous behavior” witnessed, Kettell said gunshots have been heard and illegal drugs have been smelled.

Kettell acknowledged that the Spanish Fort Police Department, once notified of the situation, resolved “two-thirds” of the issues “overnight,” but he is concerned by the lack of any municipal stopgap to prevent the behavior from originating.

“The fact remains that property owners have no protection. All we saw down there were kids—night and day—doing their thing,” he said.

Specifically, Kettell is proposing the city consider adopting an ordinance that would limit the number of cars and occupants per room allowed for rental houses as well as enforcement of basic yard maintenance standards and a drug-free policy that results in immediate eviction.

“If we catch them, they’re going to jail,” Mayor Joe Bonner said of any suspected illegal activity.

Kettell also clarified: “None of what I’m talking about applies to property owners. Only landlords and tenants … We are residents who have a major investment in Spanish Fort (and we want) some protection against thoughtless landlords and tenants.”

Another neighbor, Michael Minto, echoed Kettell’s sentiments, noting that his retirement allows him the time to jot down the license plate numbers and brief descriptions of guests he considers suspicious.

“I don’t have any proof these people are doing anything illegal, but it’s highly suspicious,” Minto said.

Bonner asked the residents give the council ample time to investigate the matter thoroughly.

In a separate matter, although the council voted to amend a rezoning request by Asphalt Services to include recently drafted restricted covenants as a condition of approval, the measure failed to move for an immediate vote when Councilman Joe Thomas voted against suspending the rules to accept the item for immediate consideration.

In turn, the company’s request to have its Old Highway 31 property rezoned from B-3, or general business, to M-1, or light industrial, will not be considered until the council’s March 15 meeting. The company has already removed concrete-crushing operations from the site as well as from the adjoining county property and is seeking the rezoning to allow for a contractor’s storage yard.

The majority of the discussion surrounding the issue prior to the failed vote centered around Councilman Tom Sawyer’s concerns that manufacturing of any kind will be pursued on the site.

Sawyer asked Asphalt Services’ J.D. Odom if the company has already removed the crushing and sifting equipment what exactly will be stored on the property.

Odom said the storage yard is needed to house the company’s fleet of more than three dozen vehicles, including pickups, tractor-trailers, dump trucks, bulldozers, forklifts and other vehicles. Materials, such as sand and gravel will also be stored periodically, Odom said, but he said all manufacturing operations, or anything that can be construed as a manufacturing process, has already been removed from the property.

In other business, the council:

By maintaining open space that provides for clean air and water necessary for a healthy environment, the Forever Wild program has secured more than 79,000 acres of land in select areas in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, the Grand Bay Savannah, Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, the Escatawpa River, the Perdido Riverm the Splinter Hill Bog, Blakeley State Parkm the Weeks Bay Reserve and Lillian Swamp over the past 17 years.

The next regular meeting of the council will begin with a 5 p.m. work session in the conference room at City Hall on March 15, followed immediately by the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the Gathering Place in the Prodisee Center.