FAIRHOPE – Property on Baldwin County 48 could become a new Fairhope park under a proposal being considered by the Fairhope City Council.
Mayor Sherry Sullivan said the Fairhope Single Tax Colony has offered to donate a parcel to the city to be developed as a recreation site. She said the property is about 1.5 to 2 acres in size near the River Mill subdivision east of Walmart.
“They would like to do improvements to that piece of property and then possibly turn it over to the city for use as a park,” Sullivan said at the City Council work session on Monday, March 22. “They will do all the improvements, all the drainage improvements, the sodding. They want to put some park equipment in, some picnic tables and then they would come to the city. But they did not want to move forward on that, it’s about a $100,000 expenditure for all those upgrades, if we were not interested in taking over all that piece of land.”
Sullivan said the area is growing as new developments are added and a park would be a useful addition.
“There’s a couple of developments coming out that way and already some major developments, so I think it’s great for us to have those pocket parks in some of these areas to give folks a playground and some green space,” Sullivan said.
Councilman Cory Martin said such parks are good for the city.
“I think it’s a great idea personally,” Martin said. “I just think it would be good for those kids on that side.”
Council President Jack Burrell said he supported adding parks but wanted to be sure that the new facility would not interfere with operations at the Fairhope Police Department precinct planned near the property.
“That’s the only question that I would have about that,” Burrell said. “What’s going to be going on at the precinct? We don’t want to look at gift horse in the mouth for park land.”
After looking over the proposal, Police Chief Stephanie Hollinghead said she did not think that the park would have an effect on the proposed precinct.
Sullivan said the council’s recommendations will now go back to the Single Tax Colony for that agency to decide on what action to take.
