SPANISH FORT, Ala.—The Spanish Fort Planning Commission will soon return to its roots of setting and driving the city’s development, Chairman Carl Nelson said during the March 28 informal work session.

“It might be time to get back to having subcommittees that address some of these issues,” Nelson said in response to Commissioner Maura Dismuke’s concern that the body has focused so much time and energy on drafting a Comprehensive Plan that some of the issues formerly identified as priorities have fallen off the radar.

“What we need is to get back to planning,” said Dismuke, raising traffic control, infrastructure needs and landscaping as only a few of the areas that have been neglected.

Nelson said he is the first to admit he’s “had a full plate” since the commission set about drafting the Comprehensive Plan, a 15-year blueprint intended to drive the city’s controlled development.

At the same time, Nelson noted, the national economic downturn practically ground all development to a halt, freeing up commissioners to devote time and energy to drafting the plan until business owners and developers wade cautiously back into the mix.

“We’re doing our job,” Nelson said, conceding he has long wished city leaders might consider hiring a full-time professional planner to handle a lot of the details the commission currently absorbs on a volunteer basis.

Building Official Bruce Renkert noted that several grant programs, such as one being pursued to help finance overhauling the city’s subdivision regulations, often build in enough funding to hire planners on a contract basis.

Dismuke noted, however, that the landscaping plan she worked on before the Comprehensive Plan took priority, was drafted with no out-of-pocket expense to the city. Several professional landscapers in the area, she said, volunteered their time and expertise.

“We can’t plan properly if we only look at one piece of the puzzle,” she said.