Fairhope, Alabama
Update: Subsequently, we manged to contact the neighbor who initiated the complaints, who did not attend the meeting covered here. He said he was unaware of any resolutions of the issues and had not been in contact with the planning department ... or owners of the LPC.
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| Little Point Clear venue. |
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| Baldwin Planning Commission |
NEIGHBORING PROPERTY PURCHASED
Even though both parties agreed fixes for most of the apparent zoning violations at the 'Little Point Clear' venue at 18263 Scenic Hwy 98 south of Fairhope have been found, the Baldwin County Planning Commission went ahead and issued a notice of violation letter ... intended to expedite an amicable final resolution.
County planning director Matthew Brown summarized the situation saying his office had received a code enforcement complaint from a neighbor last year alleging there had been "changes in use and site plan" that was approved for the business in 2017; the subsequent inspection by planning department staff found seven apparent zoning violations; the most concerning being the lack of an adequate number of on-site parking spaces provided (11) due to a tent or other unauthorized activities out front.
After being discussed during two commission meetings earlier this year, another ninety days were given for owners to comply, or the 2017 conditional approval as a venue could be revoked.
Brown said those ninety days ended September 2nd; but since so much progress had been made, he recommended issuing a notice of action letter ... but giving another 30 days to fully implement the fixes mentioned.
Some events already scheduled in the interim would be allowed to conditionally continue as well, Brown added.
LPC ATTORNEY AGREES
Thomas O'hara, the new attorney for LPC concurred that "six out of the seven have been resolved" and we "think we got a solution to the seventh (parking)."
He revealed the Ford property to the north had been acquired earlier in the week, and that LPC planned to expedite submitting a new application to the commission; thirty additional days should be enough time, he added.
O'hara: "We believe we will have more than the adequate number of spaces. Willing to work with the commission and department ... to satisfy everybody."
"Do what you need to do ... (We'll) come back in thirty days with good news."
Commission chairman Pumphrey said he preferred to proceed with the draft resolution "on the table" as Brown had recommended ... and "revisit the issue in thirty days."
The commission then voted unanimously for the resolution.
If all issues are still not resolved by then the commission may decide to proceed with legal enforcement action, or other measures as necessary, Brown said.
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| Ford property to be used for parking. |
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| Planning director Brown. |
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| Attorney Thomas O'hara |
Comments
has been going on far too long. For the sake of the city and
the revenue this venue brings, I certainly pray the issue will
be resolved sooner rather than later.