The Mobile City Planning Commission voted March 20 to recommend amendments to the Unified Development Code (UDC) addressing parking and loading, neighborhood meetings, record-keeping, minor and major modifications to planned unit developments (PUDs), and terminating a PUD. The commission took the amendments by article and approved staff recommendations.

Why it matters

The amendments aim to restore or clarify provisions that were present in the prior zoning ordinance, to increase transparency around neighborhood meetings, to reduce repetitive probate/recording work for applicants, and to provide clearer administrative guidance on when PUD changes may be handled administratively versus when they require full commission review. The changes also add a process for terminating a PUD and update the UDC’s definition of “lot of record” (handled in Article 8).

Key changes approved

- Article 3 (Parking and loading): Reintroduces limited exemptions that existed under the prior zoning ordinance and were omitted when the city adopted the current UDC; the amendment was recommended for approval.

- Article 5 (Neighborhood meetings; record keeping; minor/major modifications; terminating a PUD): Several changes were approved, including:
- Neighborhood meetings: adds a requirement that notification include the council representative and planning and zoning department, requires the meeting be held within one mile of the proposed site, and sets a minimum meeting length of one hour to ensure adequate public participation.
- Record-keeping: establishes a clearer submittal and review process so the planning department can confirm whether applicants’ documents are sufficient before they pursue probate filings, reducing back-and-forth between applicants and probate.
- Minor vs. major PUD modifications: clarifies examples of changes that may be eligible for administrative approval — landscaping, tree planting, building elevation or materials, parking-lot design, screening walls/fences and similar elements — and preserves the director’s authority to determine classification.
- Terminating a PUD: adds procedures for terminating a planned unit development and includes language that, where multiple property owners exist within a PUD, termination requires consent of all owners; commissioners noted this raises property-rights and legal considerations and that staff views consent as protective of owners’ expectations.

- Article 8 (Definitions): updates the “lot of record” date from 1952 to 03/08/1962.

Discussion highlights

Staff explained the parking amendment restores a prior exemption and walked commissioners through the neighborhood meeting timing, notice and location requirements. Commissioners debated the neighborhood-meeting minimum length; some said an hour is necessary to allow residents to arrive and participate, while others cautioned applicants may be reluctant to require an hour if turnout is zero.

On minor vs. major PUD modifications, a commissioner asked for language giving staff some latitude; staff pointed to draft language that lists types of modifications eligible for administrative approval and includes “or similar elements,” which the chair observed is intentionally broad. Regarding termination of a PUD, a commissioner raised concerns about multiple owners and the practical difficulty of locating an absentee owner; another commissioner emphasized property-rights implications and the legal risk of terminating a PUD without consent.

Next steps

The commission voted to recommend the amendments by article to the City Council: Article 3 was approved first, followed by Article 5 (which bundled neighborhood meetings, record-keeping, minor/major modifications and PUD termination), and then Article 8. The planning department will forward the recommended amendments to the City Council for public hearing and final action.