Council sets Feb. 4 public hearing on pre-zoning for Upper Kingston Road; annexation vote postponed

The Prattville City Council set a public hearing for 6 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2025, to consider pre-zoning roughly 94 acres located at 1301 and 1315 Upper Kingston Road to Institutional (INST) at the request of the Autauga County Board of Education. The planning commission had recommended the pre-zoning at its Dec. 19, 2024 meeting, and the council scheduled the city public hearing and advertised the ordinance synopsis in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Councilors also considered an annexation ordinance for the same parcels but voted to hold that ordinance until after the Feb. 4 public hearing. A motion to postpone the annexation until after the pre-zoning public hearing carried without recorded opposition. Council members explained the sequence is procedural: pre-zoning and public notice precede a final annexation vote under state law and the city's zoning procedures; the ordinance language cited Code of Alabama section 11-52-75 and the annexation procedures found in sections 11-42-20 through 11-42-23 of the Code of Alabama.

Why it matters: The pre-zoning and potential annexation were requested by the Autauga County Board of Education and would change the municipal boundary and zoning for property where an institutional use is proposed. The ordinance as presented is contingent on the petitioner completing annexation steps no later than 180 days after adoption, per the ordinance language read into the record.

Next steps: The council will hold the Feb. 4 public hearing and then may proceed with the annexation ordinance after that hearing. The ordinance text presented notes that adoption is contingent on the petitioner completing the annexation process within 180 days of adoption.