Bon Secour: Coast's New Hot Spot?

Developers want to build 30-story condominium tower in unincorporated Baldwin community
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
By VIRGINIA BRIDGES Staff Reporter
BON SECOUR -- A strip of waterfront marked with pilings and foundation from a cabin washed away by Hurricane Ivan could be the site of one of the first major developments in this unincorporated Baldwin County community, developers and residents said.
Rock Point Beach, a development company headed by a Tuscaloosa physician, is proposing a 30-story, 400-condo tower with a 432-slip yacht club and gated community on Bon Secour Bay between Point Clear and Fort Morgan.
Wesley Spruill, owner of Rock Point Beach and an anesthesiologist, holds an option to buy 504 acres to build Bon Soleil Yacht Club, he said.
Less than 30 acres would be developed and the rest, which is mostly wetlands, would be donated to the state or the county for public use, he said.
Before construction can begin, the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission would have to approve the proposed development plan. If approved, Bon Soleil would be among the first big developments in the heavily wooded area dotted with a sprawling mix of mobile, modest and upscale homes. The Bon Secour community has a population of about 1,000.
Smaller residential developments just south of the area, such as Sunset Bay and Sailboat Bay, are more common for that section of the county.
Residents who live near the site expressed concern about an increase in traffic and lack of specific information, but many said they welcomed the expected increase in property values and water and sewer service that will come to the area.
Spruill said he hopes to start selling boat slips and lifetime yacht club memberships for between $75,000 to $100,000 by early spring. People who purchase memberships will be given the option to buy the two-, three-, and four-bedroom condos, he said. Spruill wouldn't give a potential selling price, but said he expects it to be below market value.
Bon Soleil, which will also require some dredging of Bon Secour Bay to accommodate larger boats, will fill a need for boat slips in the growing area near the Intracoastal Waterway, he said.
Last week, consulting engineer Steven Morin presented the development to the Planning Commission and promised cutting-edge construction that would resist hurricane storm surges and plans that would limit damage to the environment.
After commissioners expressed concern about the lack of details outlining the potential toll on the environment, road access and a hurricane evacuation plan for boats and people, they tabled the item until their Dec. 1 meeting.
Commissioners said they wanted those details in writing and they said they doubted the vulnerable area could be made hurricane-proof.
Bon Secour's predicted storm surge ranges from 6.1 feet above the average sea level for a Category 1 storm to 16 feet for a Category 5 storm, according to the Alabama Hurricane Evacuation Study, prepared by local, state and national government agencies.