Planning commission recommends two Encounter Drive commercial site plans to city council

The Fairhope City Planning and Zoning Commission on Feb. 3 voted unanimously to recommend two Encounter Drive commercial site plans to the City Council, approving site plan SR 25.02 for Harvey & Thomas Orthodontics and SR 25.03 for two restaurant buildings (Foosackley's and Just Chillin') with staff conditions.

Commission staff said the Harvey & Thomas Orthodontics proposal would place an 8,200-square-foot dental and orthodontics office on Lot 9 of the Encounter Commercial Retail Center (owner: Fairhope 9, LLC). Staff reported the lot is one acre in Zone B2, the building height is 30 feet, and the site plan shows a sidewalk connection to the existing Encounter Drive sidewalk and mechanical screening. Staff recommended correcting a highway construction setback entry in the site data table to 100 feet, limiting parking-lot light poles to 10 feet, and updating the landscape plan to add a shrub 40 inches tall at planting and an additional overstory tree because an existing credited tree does not qualify for credit.

Benjamin Cummings, the project architect, said the applicants can comply with the staff recommendations but noted the plumbing and mechanical drawings are not complete and the project is not yet scheduled for the February 6 utility meeting. “We don't have any issues with any of the staff comments. We can certainly add the shrub, add the tree,” Cummings said, adding the lighting will need to be reworked because the current poles are taller than 10 feet.

For SR 25.03, staff summarized plans for two restaurant buildings on Lot 4 (identified in staff materials as 101.53 acres in Zone B2) with a combined estimated peak PM trips of 126, 48 parking spaces (40 required) and pervious parking meeting the 20% pervious requirement. Staff recommended updating the photometric plan to show 10-foot light poles, correcting the parking total on the plant schedule (from 51 to 48), and ensuring vehicular screening planting begins four feet from the curb.

Developer representatives said they will add the required landscaping and revise the lighting plans. The commission voted to recommend both site plans to the City Council, each subject to the staff conditions recorded in the staff reports.

The staff conditions for both recommendations also included attendance at the City utilities meeting (to confirm water, sewer, gas, electric and communications needs) before the projects move to council review. The commission’s recommendations are advisory; the City Council will make final decisions on the site plans.