Fairhope council wrestles with PUD limits, mixed‑use rules and impervious‑surface caps

Fairhope — City planning staff presented a package of zoning amendments on May 11, prompting a lengthy council debate over how the city should control density, preserve neighborhoods and limit impervious surface.

Hunter Simmons, the city’s director of planning, told the council the changes date to proposals first circulated in October and refined after public meetings in February and March. The amendments touch multiple tools: mixed‑use building rules in the central business district, updates to the use table, and a proposal to cap impervious surface for single‑family residential lots. Simmons said staff wants council direction before finalizing the advertised ordinance.

The debate focused on PUDs, a flexible zoning option used for mixed developments. Staff had proposed keeping PUDs as a tool but adding limits that would prevent them from being used to maximize residential density without community benefit. Councilors discussed whether to require a fixed minimum commercial component (staff at one point proposed 33%) or to trigger a commercial requirement only above a parcel size threshold (several councilors mentioned 10 acres as an example). Members also weighed returning a three‑acre minimum for a PUD in some cases versus keeping a higher baseline.

Councilors pressed for a tool that gives planning staff and developers clarity while reserving final discretion for elected officials. Several members said they want a simpler, lower‑bar alternative to full PUD submissions for small mixed residential projects — for example, a 'mixed‑residential' option that would provide limited site‑plan flexibility without the full PUD submittal burden.

On impervious surface, staff showed comparisons with nearby Baldwin County and Gulf Shores, where caps in some residential zones range around 35–40%. Simmons said Fairhope’s draft would be broadly comparable to neighboring jurisdictions but that staff would prepare a more detailed apples‑to‑apples table by lot size and district.

Council members asked staff to return with concrete alternatives — draft text for a PUD size threshold, a simplified residential PUD option, and a clear comparability table on impervious limits — so the council and public can weigh trade‑offs before the amendments are formally advertised for adoption.

What happens next: Staff will compile comparative data and draft alternative amendment language; the council asked that those materials be available before the next work session so it can set a clearer policy direction.