Orange Beach council adopts Turquoise Place South Lot PUD change after hours of public comment and legal objections

The Orange Beach City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt an ordinance authorizing a modification of the Turquoise Place planned-unit development for the Turquoise Place South Lot, despite extensive public comment raising legal and access concerns.

The change, presented by city planning staff as a proposal for a 1.17-acre parcel at 26302 Perdido Beach Boulevard, would convert a city-owned open-space parcel to a six-unit condominium tower with a clubhouse and rooftop pool. The applicant’s materials described an 8-floor building with basement and Level 1 parking and a 20-foot emergency/beach-access easement on the east side.

Supporters said the design meets the technical standards for a PUD modification and will provide additional units and private improvements. “This access is for the city to the beach just like you’re doing right now,” Forrest Daniel, the project architect, told the council, describing the proposed 20-foot emergency access and pedestrian ingress and egress the applicants say will remain in place.

Opponents — including attorneys and multiple residents from adjacent Turquoise Place and The Palms condominiums — focused on property-title and easement questions and on whether the proposal reduces the PUD’s required open space below the ordinance minimum. George Irvine, attorney for the Turquoise Place Condominium Association, told the council that the plans submitted to the planning commission did not include a signed-and-sealed boundary survey locating recorded easements and argued the record shows the parcel was subject to an easement conveyed in 2009 that covers the entire parcel and grants pedestrian ingress/egress and other rights. “The survey did not show the location of that easement at all,” Irvine said.

Irvine and several residents also cited two recorded plats showing the parcel as public beach access, arguing those recordings amounted to a statutory dedication of the parcel for public access. He said the PUD modification would lower the PUD-wide open-space percentage from figures in council materials (the opponents cited a drop from roughly 16% to 12%) and that the city’s zoning ordinance requires at least 20% open space for PUDs. “The ordinance says ‘shall have 20%.’ Shall means shall,” Irvine said, citing case law on strict construction of zoning rules.

The developer, Larry Wireman, said the parcel was deeded to the city under a prior arrangement and that the proposed six-unit tower is modest. “This piece of property was never owned by Turquoise Place. I’ve owned it all along,” Wireman told the council, adding, “Six units is not gonna kill anybody.”

City staff and the applicant’s counsel countered several procedural complaints during the hearing, saying easements were included in the public record and that the application had been reviewed by city attorneys and planning staff. City planning staff presented the proposal’s technical data — 1.17 acres, six 6-bedroom units, basement parking, rooftop pool, adjustments to the Turquoise Place PUD unit count (applicant materials listed an increase from 400 to 406 units across the PUD) — and outlined conditions for permitting, including full civil stormwater plans and coordination with ALDOT, ADEM and Coastal Resources and Fish & Wildlife.

Council members heard lengthy public testimony, including concerns about loss of view, narrower separation between buildings at the site (opponents described a roughly 20-foot gap at the narrowest point), parking and pedestrian safety across Perdido Beach Boulevard, and potential limitations on emergency vehicle access. Several speakers urged the council to preserve the parcel as public green space, noting prior planning decisions that led to Turquoise Place’s height and development pattern.

Despite the objections, council members moved to consider the item and then adopted the ordinance by roll call. The minutes record the affirmative votes of Council Members Silvers, Johnson, Mitchell, Blaylock and Boyd and Mayor Kenning (roll call recorded as all yes). The ordinance was adopted at the meeting as “order number 1702, Turquoise Place PUD modification, Turquoise Place South Lot.”

Council members and staff indicated remaining technical and legal questions — including the exact recorded boundaries of referenced easements, the presence or absence of the signed-and-sealed boundary survey cited by opponents, and how any existing easements would be honored in final permitting — will be followed up in subsequent permitting steps. City officials also noted the land-swap tied to the parcel has timing and lease considerations that staff and the city attorney said they are continuing to finalize.

Opponents said they plan to press their legal and procedural arguments further; Irvine told the council he did not consent to shifting the recorded easement and stressed that Alabama law requires an easement holder’s consent to relocate an easement. The developer said he expects to close the land-swap and proceed with the project’s permitting and construction steps.

The council’s adoption means the PUD modification is now in place; permit reviews, final civil plans and any required plat/subdivision steps remain to be completed before construction can begin. Several speakers asked the council to keep public-safety and beach-access functions explicit in final plans; staff told the council those details would be required at site-permit stage.

The Turquoise Place modification was the meeting’s most contested item and drew the largest public turnout and the most sustained comment. The city’s legal and planning staff will continue to review recorded easements, survey materials and the permitting sequence required by state and local regulators.