FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Four Fairhope residents spoke against plans to construct a new building at Celebration Church during Monday’s Planning Commission meeting.

“It’s going to be used as sanctuary,” said Planning Director Jonathan Smith of the proposed 11,989-square-foot structure to be located on church property just east of Greeno Road at the intersection of Dyer Road and Jubilee Trail.

Smith told the commission the project lies outside the city limits, meaning the city does not have any zoning authority on projects such as the one proposed.

However, city subdivision regulations do enable the commission to review certain technical requirements of the project such as compliance with city stormwater management rules for subdivisions, he said.

Following comments from nearby residents with concerns about increased drainage problems, the commission voted unanimously to table its consideration of the project until its meeting next month.

Several times during the meeting, statements by the project engineer about plans to handle drainage issues caused by the new building did not satisfy commission members.

Matt Rogers, an engineer with Driven Engineering, told the commission that a detention pond would be constructed to capture and release additional runoff on the north side of the property, and that a earthen swale would be constructed to handle drainage problems on the south side of the new building.

Two of the residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting said they live at Porch Place, which is located within city limits on the south side of the church.

Several statements from commission members raised questions about the impact of additional runoff on houses in that area.

“What if one house gets flooded that doesn’t have a problem today?” asked commission member Lee Turner, referring to houses on the south side of the church property.

On the commission’s request, Smith said his department would seek an opinion from the county engineer regarding whether the project complied, not only with county regulations, but also with more stringent city regulations regarding stormwater management in subdivisions within the city’s planning jurisdiction.