Mike Jeffries, with the City of Fairhope Planning Department, told the commission on Jan. 5 that staff recommended approval of SR 25.08, the site plan for the Fairhope Boarding House at the intersection of Fairhope Avenue and Church Street, subject to several conditions, including a revision of utility plans and architect certification that mechanical equipment be at or below 40 feet.

Jeffries said the project would include a restaurant and med-spa on the first floor, boarding-house guest rooms on the second and third floors and a rooftop terrace accessory to the boarding house. He noted that traffic estimates submitted by the applicant showed "less than 1,000 daily trips and less than 50 peak trips," numbers that keep the project below thresholds that would require a full traffic-impact study.

Architect Ryan Baker, of All Kinds of Architects, described revisions to the rooftop terrace — including fewer seats and clarified temporary-use space for occasional events — and said the project team had worked with utilities to relocate a gas meter and identify transformer pad dimensions.

During questioning, a commissioner said the terrace "feels like a 4th Floor of use," pressing whether the accessory rooftop could effectively operate as a separate event venue. Chris, a planning staff member, responded that the accessory-use provision does not set an attendance cap but limits activities that create "levels of noise, odors, vibration and lighting, degrees of traffic and congestion" beyond the principal use; he said the city could use enforcement powers if recurring problems arise.

The commission voted 3–1 to recommend SR 25.08 to Fairhope City Council with three conditions: approval of the associated multiple-occupancy project SD 25.16, revision of the utility plans to reflect a transformer pad sized 78 inches by 75 inches, and an architect certification at building-permit submittal that mechanical equipment remains at or below 40 feet.

On the related subdivision/MOP, the commission then voted to approve SD 25.16 according to staff recommendations. The motion passed 8–1. The approval included the same utility and mechanical-height conditions and referenced that the med-spa use, if pursued, would require a use-on-appeal before the board of adjustment.

Next steps: SR 25.08 will be forwarded to Fairhope City Council for final site-plan action; SD 25.16 was approved by the commission and will proceed under the conditions the commission set.