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Developers ask Mobile City Council to vacate alley at 6 S. Franklin, request $12,440 fee waiver
Summary
Developers renovating a historic house near 6 South Franklin Street asked the Mobile City Council to vacate a 10-foot, dead-end alley to support a $2.5 million renovation and other block investments, and requested the city waive the approximately $12,440 vacation fee as an incentive and to transfer maintenance responsibility to private owners.
Mike Rogers, representing Lemoine Properties and Cheerful Credit, asked the Mobile City Council on Jan. 6 to vacate an alley adjacent to 6 South Franklin Street to support renovation and restoration of a block that he described as long blighted. "We're undergoing a 2 and a half million dollar renovation right now of that house," Rogers said, and he asked the council to "grant us this vacation" and to not charge a fee for the transfer.
The developers said the alley is a 10-foot, dead-end space used for construction access and that vacating it would let private owners maintain the area and relieve the city of maintenance duties. Rogers said the project includes historic-preservation conditions: the renovation is a historic tax-credit project that requires a facade easement and restricts changes to the front of the building.
At the podium, Evan Allstool formally asked the council to waive the alley-vacation fee, saying the approximately $12,440 cost would be split among three private owners and that they will "take the responsibility for its upkeep" and "pay taxes on it." "We're asking that the city Waive that $12,440 approximately as a gift to the project," Allstool said.
Council members pressed the presenters on public-service access and neighborhood impacts. Councilwoman Ingram asked, "Are there any concerns, in terms of access for ambulance and so forth, you know, by us vacating that property?" Rogers replied the alley is not a through way and that service vehicles would use the street instead. Rogers also identified other property owners on the block, including the Archdiocese-owned corner parcel and individual owners who are coordinating renovation plans.
The public hearing was opened and later closed during the meeting; no final council decision on vacating the alley or the fee waiver appears in the transcript of this session. The developers identified an immediate private investment figure (about $2.5 million) and said additional multi‑million‑dollar investments are planned for adjacent properties. The council asked staff and the presenters for follow-ups about access, future uses and the potential for reopening the alley to adjoining properties as part of a larger block plan.
Next steps: the public hearing was closed at the Jan. 6 meeting; the transcript does not record a final council vote on the alley vacation or the fee-waiver request, so any formal action or ordinance would appear on a later agenda.
