Fairhope, Alabama
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETS
With only one dissenting vote, the Planning Commission recommended that the residentially-zoned (RA) property directly south of Walmart be rezoned to B-4 (business/professional) to allow a dentist's office to locate there.
There will be no vehicular connection to the Walmart driveway access; but access from 181 will be restricted ("right turn only in, right out"). -- according to ALDOT access requirements for the highway.
Only a few blocks of the highway are within the city limits: the rest is currently un-zoned and the city has no control over what gets built -- unless a subdivision of the property is needed.
Several commissioners (including Burrell) expressed concerns about longstanding drainage issues (the Idlewild neighborhood drains through it and HWY 181 sometimes floods there); but commissioner Fidler was the only one to vote against the rezoning at this time: citing the current Comprehensive Growth Plan review now underway -- and concerns about excessive commercial growth in that area raised by citizens during town hall meetings last summer.
At those meetings, some east-siders worried about sprawl and "run-away growth"; downtown merchants about new competition for their struggling owner-operated stores.
(The 200,000+ sq. ft. Walmart Supercenter by itself exceeds the total commercial activity envisioned for that area by the city's Comprehensive Plan, 180,000.
Persistent rumors about a Home Depot or Lowes locating somewhere along the highway could not be confirmed, but some elected city officials concede more big boxes are probably "inevitable")
In 2009, '181 Place'* a five-lot PUD along the other side of Hwy 181 (directly across from Walmart) was approved -- for similar commercial purposes; but another request in 2012 for the adjacent property on the south side (to B-2) was not approved by the Commission.
The 181 Place (Klump Family Partnership) project was never begun -- click.
*see diagram below
PROPERTY RECENTLY FORECLOSED
County land records show the property was in foreclosure in Jan. of 2013 -- when Anez Investments Llc. of Mobile purchased it. (Oscar Anez, proprietor.)
CITY COUNCIL MUST DECIDE
The Planning Commission can only make zoning recommendations, the city council must approve it at an upcoming council meeting.
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETS
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| Fairhope Planning Commission |
With only one dissenting vote, the Planning Commission recommended that the residentially-zoned (RA) property directly south of Walmart be rezoned to B-4 (business/professional) to allow a dentist's office to locate there.
There will be no vehicular connection to the Walmart driveway access; but access from 181 will be restricted ("right turn only in, right out"). -- according to ALDOT access requirements for the highway.
Only a few blocks of the highway are within the city limits: the rest is currently un-zoned and the city has no control over what gets built -- unless a subdivision of the property is needed.
Several commissioners (including Burrell) expressed concerns about longstanding drainage issues (the Idlewild neighborhood drains through it and HWY 181 sometimes floods there); but commissioner Fidler was the only one to vote against the rezoning at this time: citing the current Comprehensive Growth Plan review now underway -- and concerns about excessive commercial growth in that area raised by citizens during town hall meetings last summer.
 |
| 20252 Hwy 181 |
(The 200,000+ sq. ft. Walmart Supercenter by itself exceeds the total commercial activity envisioned for that area by the city's Comprehensive Plan, 180,000.
Persistent rumors about a Home Depot or Lowes locating somewhere along the highway could not be confirmed, but some elected city officials concede more big boxes are probably "inevitable")
In 2009, '181 Place'* a five-lot PUD along the other side of Hwy 181 (directly across from Walmart) was approved -- for similar commercial purposes; but another request in 2012 for the adjacent property on the south side (to B-2) was not approved by the Commission.
The 181 Place (Klump Family Partnership) project was never begun -- click.
*see diagram below
PROPERTY RECENTLY FORECLOSED
County land records show the property was in foreclosure in Jan. of 2013 -- when Anez Investments Llc. of Mobile purchased it. (Oscar Anez, proprietor.)
CITY COUNCIL MUST DECIDE
The Planning Commission can only make zoning recommendations, the city council must approve it at an upcoming council meeting.
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| Growth Plan Meeting last August |
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| '181 Place' PUD in red-stripe, approved in 2009. This new rezoning is the lot on the other side of the highway, directly south of Walmart. |
Comments
It would finish off the 2 remaining little hardware stores though.