Spin the wheel and take a chance on getting a new development approved in Fairhope.
Am I suggesting it’s a gamble? Sure is – might just as well spin a roulette wheel. Nobody can tell what the council will do. Nobody can predict what hoops the hopeful developer will be told he has to jump through. And it seems like nobody can tell when it will end.
I’m back on the Fly Creek PUD and if any readers missed (or forgot) my first PUD column, let me back up a bit to set the stage for this one.
Earlier this year, Arthur Corte (scion of Eastern Shore farming pioneers) submitted a plan for a new development on Greeno Road in Fairhope. The first step was a request for a zoning change from business to residential. Sounds like a sure thing for a parcel that sits in the midst of a cluster of existing residential developments.
He proposed an up-scale mixed use development – along the lines of the wildly popular Celebration and Seaside communities in Florida. Best of all, the proposed PUD perfectly fit the guidelines of the Fairhope Comprehensive Plan. It has a commercial component, is pedestrian friendly and offers connectivity to existing neighborhoods.
Wonderful, right?
Not to some. It was immediately attacked by the adjacent property owners’ associations – and even by some that weren’t nearly adjacent. Listening to the dramatic presentations at the Planning Commission meeting by Jeff Phillips and Mike Perkins (POA Presidents of Rock Creek and The Woodlands, respectively), one could easily be convinced pristine land was being raped and despoiled. A ghetto created, populated by God-only-knows what kind of low-lifes, crowded together in an oozing cesspool of corruption that would spill over into their communities, lowering property values and polluting fields and streams.
Of course somehow their developers took this same type of open agricultural property and built the two Rock Creeks, The Woodlands and Sandy Ford without any impact on land and water, and without a resultant increase in population density. Hardly. This was the same old obstructionist, I-got-mine-now-shut-the-door, cry of “Too Dense, Too Much Traffic, Too Dense, Too Much Traffic, Runoff, Runoff, Runoff.”
The planning commission, having heard all this time and again was not taken in. They did listen however and asked Arthur Cote to accommodate some of the concerns of the neighbors. The hearing ended with a recommendation to the city council that the PUD be approved. Dick Charles, commission head, noted it was just approval of the PUD – there were still many submissions and hearings before a shovelful of dirt could be moved.
In the subsequent public hearing, the Fairhope City Council faced a better organized group of POA representatives. Joining the vociferous Phillips-Perkins team from the earlier hearing, were Steve Page from Eastern Rock Creek, where he is secretary-treasurer, and David Greenwood, president of the Sandy Ford POA. All endorsed a joint communiqué stating the united position of the “over one thousand households” they represent.
No surprise that all spoke in opposition – but there was a little room for hope. They conceded that the developer had agreed to many changes – including greatly enlarging the lots that abut the existing developments, adding green space as buffers and proposing no roads connecting to any other development. Arthur Corte said anything was OK with him on connectivity – but the city had set standards requiring some connectivity for safety if not convenience. The council stepped in and opted for bike and pedestrian access, but no cars (applause from the audience).
There were changes and give-ups by the developer being agreed to in real time. And there was real progress toward closure – notwithstanding unhelpful political posturing by Mike Perkins. He backed up his demands for changes by invoking the force of 2,000 voters supporting him. It was also a dubious claim, quickly brought into question by support, even praise, of the project by a number of neighborhood residents, including Kevin Boone from his home turf, The Woodlands.
Kevin, a commanding figure at any meeting, vigorously supported Arthur Corte’s request and spoke of the attractiveness of the proposed development. He drew attention to the revised and updated Comprehensive Plan for Fairhope, which describes creation of neighborhood clusters – not continuing to allow isolated, homogeneous residential communities to be built. He observed that Fly Creek is a perfect example of what the plan calls for and stated, “If the city council turns this project down, you are a bunch of hypocrites.”
But in the end there was to be no closure. The legal requirements of the public hearing process shut the door on getting anything passed at that meeting. All of the changes being incorporated into the PUD request will have to be published and a new public hearing scheduled. The local residents were relieved and their leaders pressed for even more concessions – some basically unrealistic, others very costly to the developer. Arthur Corte pushed back and communicated irritation at the further delay and unceasing demands. Could be worse, especially if the council had voted and he lost. Then the PUD application could not be brought up again for a year.
I think that if a vote been allowed at that hearing, he had no better than even odds of winning. Not good for the developer because the proposal is clearly best and most valuable use of the land.
And not good for Fairhope for lots of reasons, not the least of which would be the message that planning is nothing. An excited band of vocal citizens can make what should be a sure thing into a crapshoot – or a chance on the turn of the wheel.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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