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City to consider development agreement with Daniel Realty for golf-course project; council walks item onto agenda
Summary
Fairhope council agreed at its work session to add a development agreement with Daniel Realty Company to the regular meeting agenda; the draft agreement ties city utility availability to developer-funded infrastructure, a donation of a one-acre site for a potential water tower, and a cap of 310 residential lots.
Council members at the work session voted to add a late development-agreement item to the regular meeting agenda for consideration: a proposed agreement with Daniel Realty Company covering utilities and infrastructure tied to a proposed golf-course and residential development south of Fairhope.
City staff described the agreement as a conditional utility-availability arrangement. The developer is seeking city availability letters for water and sewer to serve a prospective development that would include a championship golf course, club facilities and a residential component. Staff said the developer is acquiring multiple parcels that are not yet contiguous and still require county subdivision approvals. Under the draft agreement the city would issue availability in exchange for developer commitments that include: a donation of a one-acre parcel the city may use for a test well and a new water tower site (subject to testing), construction of required sewer force-main extensions and water-line improvements to serve the development, and a cap on the number of residential lots tied to city utilities to 310 lots.
Staff noted the developer’s proposal reduces the number of potential lots compared with a prior availability letter that covered other county parcels (the previously approved availability letter was for 375 lots on a related site). Council members highlighted that the agreement could yield a net reduction in housing density compared with previously available county approvals and that the developer would provide infrastructure and a land donation at no cost to the city. The draft agreement also contemplates future annexation of the property by the city once parcels are contiguous, which council members said would enable the city to collect local tax revenues and exercise municipal planning controls.
Council asked for close scrutiny of the water-supply testing and the developer’s obligation to fund irrigation wells or non-potable sources for course irrigation, not to draw on city drinking-water supplies. Staff said the developer has agreed in the draft to fund irrigation sources separate from the city’s potable system if testing shows that is required; the city will require the test-well results and related engineering before making a final commitment. A council member also asked that the public be kept informed; staff said the item will be walked onto the regular meeting agenda that evening and that associated documents and the development agreement would be available for public inspection as part of the agenda packet.
A council member made a motion at the work session to add the development agreement as agenda item 34 for action at the upcoming meeting; no final approval of the development agreement occurred during the work session. Staff said the matter will return to council for a vote after technical conditions (test wells, engineering plans and county approvals) are satisfied and after the public agenda process is completed.
