Council approves rezoning at Sweetwater Circle limited to restaurant use; developer cleared wetlands buffers

The Fairhope City Council on Monday approved a rezoning request that will allow a restaurant to be rebuilt at the end of Sweetwater Circle, east of Scenic Highway.

The ordinance rezones roughly 2.06 acres from R‑1 low‑density single‑family residential to B‑1 local shopping district but limits the permitted use to a restaurant. Any other use would require a later zoning amendment and a new public hearing, the ordinance and staff recommendation said. The council also approved a related replat to combine three existing lots into a single lot so that buildings would sit on a single parcel rather than across lot lines.

Hunter, planning staff, told the council the site previously was approved as a three‑lot residential subdivision; water and sewer stubouts and a fire hydrant were installed at that time. Staff said utilities are in place and that the city’s planning commission unanimously recommended approval conditioned on limiting uses to a restaurant and requiring any future change in use to return to the council.

Kathy Barnett, agent for the project and a planner with Dewberry, described updated wetland work and buffering for the project: “We actually added wetlands to the site, from what was previously plotted on the exhibit... We actually complied with the new regulations that are a 30 foot buffer. So 36% of the site is wetlands and buffers for this development.” She also said the applicant and property owner, Bridal Metcalf, intend to “start the project off right” and had submitted landscape plans to mitigate lighting and buffering concerns raised by neighbors and the board of adjustment.

Barnett said the board of adjustment had already approved a site plan contingent on the zoning change; she told the council the county determined no turnout or right‑of‑way permit was required for the private access road that serves the cul‑de‑sac.

Council members discussed whether to allow single‑family residential use as a fallback; one councilor observed that residential uses are allowed in some commercial districts and that leaving a residential option might reduce future conflicts between businesses and neighbors. Staff and the applicant responded that the owner prefers to limit the entitlement to a restaurant and that a future rezoning application could be filed if the restaurant plan fails.

Councilors voted to suspend the normal waiting rules and approve the ordinance on immediate consideration. The clerk recorded a unanimous roll call on both the suspension and the final adoption (Council president: Aye; Place 2: Aye; Place 3: Aye; Place 4: Aye; Place 5: Aye). The mayor declared the motion carried.