Spanish Fort council amends rezoning request, approves B‑2 instead of B‑3 for 7080 Spanish Fort Boulevard

The Spanish Fort City Council voted to amend Ordinance 7052025 and rezone property at 7080 Spanish Fort Boulevard from R‑1 (single‑family residential) to B‑2 (local business district) after public hearings and a planning commission recommendation for the more restrictive classification.

The decision came after residents and nearby organizations urged the council to reject the applicant’s requested B‑3 classification because, they said, B‑3 would allow a wide range of high‑traffic uses. “B‑3 is pretty much wide open for anything. Nightclub, liquor store, gas station, it runs the gamut,” said Joe Meadows, executive director of Westminster Village, speaking for Westminster Village and its parent company, AXE Retirement Life Communities.

The planning commission had held a public hearing on May 12, 2025, and recommended B‑2. City Attorney David Connor explained the legal framework to the council: property owners may petition for rezoning, but the council may select a more restrictive classification when consistent with the comprehensive plan and surrounding uses. “Just because you request that the property be rezoned doesn’t mean the city council has to rezone the property nor does it mean it has to rezone it necessarily to the classification that you request,” Connor said.

Multiple speakers described traffic and safety concerns at the Highway 31 intersection near the parcel. “There’s a lot of emergency vehicles that come in and out for Westminster Village,” Meadows said. A Westminster Village resident described the lot’s proximity to church facilities and a preschool; another resident, identified as Kiser, noted that the median on Highway 31 has no break at that location and said access patterns would force traffic through small neighborhood streets. Resident Christine Tsai said the lot is about an acre and warned of stormwater concerns if the site is paved: “Right now, we have ground soil that’s absorbing the water … once you cement it and put concrete and parking lot, that water’s gotta go somewhere.”

Council members referenced the city’s comprehensive plan and the corridor’s future‑land‑use guidance, which staff said has long shown the first‑tier lots on Highway 31 as appropriate for B‑2. Connor noted B‑3 permits many uses by right, while B‑2 has fewer by‑right uses and more that require planning commission or council review.

A motion to amend the ordinance to change the zoning classification from B‑3 to B‑2 carried on roll call (Gustafson: yes; Perry: yes; Wynne: yes; Bradner: yes; Mayor: yes). The council then voted to approve Ordinance 7052025 as amended, rezoning the property to B‑2.

The council record shows the planning commission considered an oil‑change facility as a potential B‑3 use and rejected that intensity in recommending B‑2. City staff said that if a property owner describes a proposed use during the rezoning process, the description is considered but does not bind future buyers; rezoning can increase a parcel’s market interest even if no specific tenant is presented at the time of application.

The ordinance amendment will be reflected in the city’s zoning map and code. Because Highway 31 is a state route, the council and staff noted that any access changes or median cuts would require Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) approval and that drainage or median modifications also are subject to state permitting.