According to multiple sources at city hall, the lawsuit against the Board of Adjustments and Appeals concerning additional parking lots for the Fairhope Baptist Church has been dismissed: It was withdrawn by the plaintiff, Gaston St. resident William Hixson.
Last year, after the city's Planning Department allowed the church to construct several parking lots in the neighborhood, Hixson and other neighbors sued the city (click) claiming the new parking was not allowed by the city's Zoning Ordinances.
That first lawsuit was dismissed on a technicality; Hixson had not gone through the proper appeal process by asking the Board of Adjustments to review the issue. The Board subsequently ruled that the parking was indeed allowed by the ordinance.
Hixson then filed the second suit against the Board, claiming his property had been adversely impacted and seeking unspecified financial compensation. That one has now been withdrawn as well.Planning Director Johnathan Smith told the Times he will look into ways the city may be able to better regulate the expansion of churches into adjacent residential neighborhoods, possibly by changes to the Ordinance.
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