FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A request to create a new “tourism and resort” zoning district for the 184 acres of The Colony at the Grand development and its 100-foot-tall condominium tower is tied to its being annexed into the city and receiving a “suite of entitlements,” according to the project manager for the private residential community in Point Clear.

The development’s request, as well as related proposals by the planning and building department to amend local zoning law and subdivision regulations, will be the subject of a public hearing Monday before the Planning Commission.

“In an attempt to get a new suite of entitlements for the property, we have requested that the city allow us to be annexed, which would bring us solely into their jurisdictional authority and allow us to work more closely with a single body as we proceed with the project’s development,” said Jason Tickle, project manager of The Colony at the Grand, which is a joint venture of the Birmingham-based Daniel Corp. and Retirement Systems of Alabama called Point Clear Partners. “We currently, through the county, have entitlements to build 24 condominium buildings. We are seeking to trade in the bulk of the buildings for a more diverse suite of product types, which would include single family, mixed use and town homes — the full range of residential products, as opposed to just the condominium products that we currently are entitled to.”

Although the City Council will have the final say on the request and zoning change, the outcome of Monday’s commission meeting could also play a role in ending three years of litigation between a citizen group and a local resident and the development, in which the city is also a defendant, according to municipal officials and staff.

“This will assist in some settlement of the litigation from what I know, if this is approved by the council,” said Planning and Building Director Jonathan Smith, referring to the request and zoning change proposal on Monday’s commission agenda, which will ultimately be decided by the council, probably within a month or so of Monday’s action.

Mayor Tim Kant said Thursday that the plaintiff, Fairhope-Point Clear Association for Responsible Development, has been involved in discussions leading to Monday’s request by the development and city to create the new tourism and resort district and change zoning law and subdivision regulations to accommodate it, as well the annexation of the property into the city.

“They have no problem working with this because they’d like to see the city have control over it,” Kant said. “They asked us to work with the Daniel Corp. to see if we can get this resort district in place, so everybody would know what was going to happen or not happen as we move forward. As of right now they are on board.”

Although the plaintiff group’s attorney could not be reached for comment by press time this week, City Attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne said the parties met earlier in the week in a conference with the judge, but that the case had not yet settled.

“There are still some issues they are looking at,” said Wynne, who is monitoring the case for the city, which is being represented in the litigation by attorneys with the Hand, Arendall law firm.

The plaintiffs contend a building permit issued by the city in April 2006, which allowed the developer to build eight stories in the condominium tower, was invalid. According to court records, one of the main issues in the case involved the fact that a prior property owner and developer of the project received approval for a site plan from Baldwin County in 2001 for a number of buildings, none of which could have more than five habitable stories.

The property changed hands in 2004 without any construction having started. The new developer, PCP, then applied with the city, not the county, and received the permit to build a different project with more habitable floors.

“We have been talking with and working with the city toward this new entitlement plan really since we started the project five years ago,” Tickle said. “We certainly feel like this go-round we’ve made lots of concessions and lots of compromises with the city and have a plan that is going to be successful.”

That plan will involve the building of no more than one more condominium tower of the same height as the current one, he said.

“They’ve capped their density at 637 residential units and their commercial square footage at 108,000 square feet,” Smith said. “That’s the maximum allowed. They may not even use that.”

Smith said the new tourism and resort district was an action item described in the city’s Comprehensive Plan as one to be accomplished within five years of the Plans’ 2006 amendments.

That district, according to the Comprehensive Plan, “must include land uses that are tourist attractions such as significant resort hotels, convention facilities, marinas, golf courses, or other outdoor recreations facilities. The district may include accessory commercial uses to support tourist and other residential uses.”

According to a summary of the proposed zoning amendment, the new Tourism Resort District must contain at least 175 contiguous acres and be located within two miles of an existing full-service hotel with a minimum of 300 rooms, and within two miles of an 18-hole championship golf with related facilities, and a marina.

Smith said the proposed district is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan requirements because of its proximity to the Marriott Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club and Spa, which does include land uses as described in the Comp Plan.

“Theoretically, yes, someone else could come in and apply for TR zoning, if they meet all the provisions, but it’s pretty strict,” Smith said. “You have to be so close to so many different amenities, such as a golf course, hotel and marina, and also have the 175 required acres.”

On May 10 the city sent an e-mail about Monday’s commission meeting and the proposed zoning district to a number of homeowner associations in town, informing those groups of the public hearing that night.

“They are going to be allowed to build one more tower and there were also some questions about the Tree Ordinance,” Kant said. “There are a lot of things that could possibly cause a lot of heartburn, so we tried to send it out to all the property owner associations.”

The Planning Commission meets at 5 p.m., Monday, June 7, at City Hall.