Orange Beach council says Prosper Apartments will be removed from proposed deannexation after public outcry, lawsuit filed

The Orange Beach City Council announced the city will amend a proposed resolution on deannexing lands north of the Intracoastal Waterway to remove Prosper Apartments after residents and property representatives raised concerns and an attorney filed a lawsuit.

Why it matters: The resolution under discussion would change municipal boundaries and could affect where residents receive city services and which school system children attend. Council members and staff said they met with the school board and reviewed enrollment data before deciding to exclude Prosper from the proposed deannexation.

At the council meeting, Jamie Jenkins, assistant property manager at Prosper Apartments, told the council she and other on-site staff were responding to a news item and sought clarification for residents. "Craig Johnson is not an employee nor a representative of the city of Orange Beach in any way, form, or fashion," Jenkins said, disputing statements attributed to Craig Johnson in a media post about the deannexation.

An attorney, Chris Anderson, told the council he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Prosper parent company earlier that day and criticized the way the property was listed in the draft resolution. Anderson said his clients had invested in property and paid taxes and that including Prosper in the deannexation harmed residents' reputations and interests.

Council and staff said they had met jointly with the school board and reviewed enrollment data for the area. City officials said the data presented in that meeting showed 49 students from the affected area were already enrolled in the Orange Beach school system; council members and staff said that figure supported removing Prosper from the draft deannexation resolution.

A city staff member said, "Pursuant to the mayor's statement, that resolution will be amended to remove the Prosper property." The council did not complete a formal roll-call vote on an amended resolution at the meeting; members said the resolution will be returned for formal consideration on a future agenda (the council identified March 11 as the date a vote would occur).

Residents and Prosper staff told the council the draft resolution had caused alarm among tenants who regularly asked whether their homes were inside Orange Beach city limits. Jenkins and others described the complex as an affordable housing option used by families and employees who participate in Orange Beach schools and community programs.

Several speakers criticized the timing and publicity around the draft resolution. Jenkins and others said that after the city and Prosper representatives reviewed school enrollment data and other information, the city agreed to remove Prosper from the proposed deannexation map. Anderson, the attorney, said he had filed the lawsuit in response to the original map and related publicity.

The council did not adopt final deannexation language at the meeting. Staff and the mayor said the resolution will be amended to remove the Prosper property before the council votes in the next meeting.

Looking ahead: The council expects to consider a revised deannexation resolution at its March 11 meeting; any changes to municipal boundaries would require a formal council vote and be subject to further legal and administrative steps.