Gulf Shores - New Zoning Workshop is Planned

Tuesday, November 29, 2005
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter

"Moratorium that would block multi-family projects in commercial zoning to be topic."

The Gulf Shores City Council will hold its second workshop next week to discuss proposed changes that would eliminate the ability to build high-rise residential structures on commercially zoned land.

The meeting, prompted by a proposal to tear down the Sawgrass Landing shopping center on Alabama 59 and replace it with a 17-story hotel, will be held at 4 p.m. Dec. 5 in City Hall.

While a meeting last month focused on the sort of changes to commercial zoning rules being considered, next week's will center on whether council members think there ought to be a moratorium on proposals that seek to build multi-family structures, including hotels and extended-stay facilities, on land zoned for businesses, according to a notice released by the city last week .

In previous discussions, the council was more or less split on whether to mandate a ban on such proposals.

Some said it would be better in the long-run to temporarily enact one rather than wind up with an out-of-place high-rise in the center of town.

Others contended that, beside the Sawgrass Landing redevelopment proposal, there weren't likely to be any high-rises pitched for commercial districts along Alabama 59.

Opponents of a moratorium have also expressed concerns that putting a halt on projects could hurt developers who have yet to submit their designs to City Hall but have spent money on planning, as well as those who have invested in commercial tracts thinking they could build a tower.

Under current rules multi-family structures can stand up to 200 feet tall and include up to 42 units per acre on commercially zoned property.

So far, the Sawgrass Landing designs are the only ones that seek to put a high-rise on commercial property north of the beach, City Planner Steve Foote said last week.

The project, called Sawgrass Condominiums, is planned for 5.45 acres on the south side of the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, about a mile north of the beach.

The 17-story tower, according to plans filed with the city, would include 288 extended-stay rooms in 12 floors, 21,000 square feet of commercial space and four floors of parking.

"I think the concern some people have is, if the possibility exists, do you want to leave that possibility out there even if the possibility is remote," Foote said.

Mayor G.W. "Billy" Duke III said that during last month's meeting that several owners of commercial property told city officials that they weren't happy about the proposed restrictions, which could effect their property values.

They also asked to be more involved in any discussions about the zoning, Duke said.

"A lot of them felt they just didn't have any input in it," the mayor said. "Some of them, I think, thought it was too restrictive."

Duke said he opposes a moratorium unless there is enough notice before it begins for those with development plans in the works to file their designs with the city and thus be immune to any bans or zoning changes.

If a moratorium is enacted, Duke said, it would be set to expire on a certain date, giving city officials a limited time to write new rules.

"I don't think it'd take over 60 to 90 days," he said.

Like Duke, Councilman Robert Craft indicated in a late October council meeting that he was hesitant to enact a moratorium, but council members Carolyn Doughty, Joe Garris Jr. and Philip Harris each made comments that hinted at their willingness to halt multi-family proposals in commercial zones.

Councilman Steve Jones, who was not at that October meeting, said in an interview last week that he was opposed to a moratorium and to changes that would significantly restrict a commercial landowner's rights.

Earlier this year, Jones voted against changes to beach-front zoning that decreased the scope of what property owners could build because of what he called "unfair density reduction."

"We have done so much and imposed so many hardships on people," Jones said. "We have gone down that road far enough, I think."

Jones, echoing past comments by Duke, also said that the Sawgrass Condominium proposal applies to the rare piece of commercial property that is large enough and close enough to the Gulf to warrant a high-rise.

Many other tracts north of Fort Morgan Road along Alabama 59, near the center of town, would be too small for 200-foot-tall towers, the councilman said.