Commission approves Long Bayou Preserve rezoning and PRD despite staff recommendation to deny

Baldwin County commissioners approved a rezoning and a planned residential development (PRD) for the Goodwin property, a 36-acre site east of the Baldwin Beach Express north of Orange Beach, authorizing a 48-lot residential community to be called Long Bayou Preserve.

Planning staff recommended denial of both the rezoning and the PRD, citing incompatibility with adjacent land uses, nonconformity with the county master plan and a lack of a clear development pattern because of a large wetland area surrounding the parcel. The staff report noted the property includes approximately 25 acres of delineated wetlands and that the site lies within a VE flood zone.

Project proponents said they had obtained federal and state permits before seeking zoning approvals. Tom Granger, the project engineer representing developers Richard and Maury Cobb and the landowners, told commissioners the developers had spent two years obtaining permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and had secured leases for boat slips through State Lands. Granger said the requested development footprint would impact about 3.57 acres of delineated wetlands; he also stated that roughly 1.53 acres of fill would occur on the 36-acre site itself, with the total county-area fill around 2.04 acres of the full permit scope.

Under the approved plan, the 48 lots would be divided into waterfront and interior lots: 36 waterfront lots and 12 interior "cottage" lots. The applicant said the PRD density would be about 2.04 units per acre, below the RSF-2 maximum density and below a 2.9 units-per-acre threshold staff cited for meeting overall density in a PRD. The proposal includes an overall open-space area of approximately 29 acres with about 3.87 acres of "usable" open space, according to the applicant's materials presented to the commission.

During the hearing developers emphasized the intended character of the project as largely second-home beach housing with a homeowners association covenant that would limit disturbance of wetlands. "The owners have spent the last two years to obtain all the permitting through the Corps of Engineers and Alabama Department of Environmental Management," Tom Granger said, noting the permits were in place before the rezoning request.

Supporters and the applicant said traffic and drainage impacts would be modest compared with adjacent higher-density developments; staff and some commissioners raised compatibility concerns because surrounding land remains largely zoned for rural agriculture and timberland.

Commission action: The commission approved the rezoning (Z24-15) and, separately, approved PRD 25-02 with the conditions outlined in staff recommendations. The initial roll call for the rezoning was recorded as passed by voice with three commissioners in favor; the PRD passed after a separate motion and recorded voice vote.

Why it matters: The decision allows development on a site with substantial wetland acreage after developers obtained federal and state permits to fill limited wetland areas. Staff had recommended denial based on master-plan consistency and compatibility concerns; the commission's approval reflects a different assessment after proponents presented permit approvals and conservation commitments.

Provenance: The project's presentation, permit discussion, public comments, and the motions to approve appear in the meeting transcript from the planning presentation through the commissioners' votes.