BAY MINETTE — The Baldwin County Commission approved a 180-day moratorium on rezoning requests and new data center and renewable energy projects in county-zoned areas Tuesday, giving officials time for more long-range planning as developments sweep across the county.

The commission unanimously approved the county-wide pause after District 1 Commissioner Jeb Ball made the motion, saying that the county staff was overtaken by rezoning cases. The county also does not currently have a planning director or updated planning tools, such as the Baldwin County Master Plan that is still being evaluated.

“Our staff is inundated right now with rezoning cases,” Ball said. “It is getting out of hand to the point where we can’t catch our breath.”

Ball said 14 rezoning cases are already scheduled for an upcoming meeting and said the county needs time to assign a planning director, as well as work on the master plan and Future Land Use Map.

“What I wanted to see was just a pause and a slowdown,” Ball said.

The moratorium comes in the midst of a larger debate about growth in Baldwin County, mainly over how the county, outside of city limits, is handling large-scale developments and energy projects. The conversation heightened after residents learned about plans for a 4,500-acre utility-scale solar development near Stockton in North Baldwin County earlier this year.

As previously reported by GCM, the project includes two large-scale solar fields near I-65 and Alabama’s Highway 59, on nearly 4,500 acres of timberland and wetlands. Silicon Ranch, a solar developer based out of Nashville linked to Meta, acquired the land and plans to construct the facilities to connect them to Alabama Power’s energy grid.

The proposal drew strong backlash from the Stockton community, where residents raised concerns about wetlands, stormwater runoff and the county’s limited access to regulate the land use since the project is on property that is in an unzoned area.

The proposal helped incentivize residents in Planning District 3, which includes Stockton, to pursue county zoning. Under Alabama law, zoning in Baldwin County’s unincorporated areas has to be a citizen-led process. However, although Stockton’s vote to zone was successful, county rules exempt properly submitted development applications filed previously from the vote to continue, meaning the district moratorium enacted for zoning did not automatically halt previously submitted projects.

District 3 Commissioner Billie Jo Underwood said the new county moratorium is intended to give officials time to prepare for development rather than to stop it from happening.

“This is not about saying no to development,” Underwood said. “ It’s about taking 180 days to make sure that when we say yes, we are doing it with a plan. Without that guidance, we're looking a little dimly into the future.”

Underwood emphasized that the commission has not, to her knowledge, been approached about data centers being proposed in Baldwin County. She said the issue at hand is about preparing before these proposals arrive.

“I am not for or against,” Underwood said. “I am trying to collect information so that we can make guided, valuable decisions for our citizens.”

Ball said the pause would allow county staff and the incoming commission time to establish a framework before another wave of cases comes through the commissioners. He also said developers may also use the 180-day period to reconsider proposals and bring forth projects that are better suited for the community.

There is also an election in November, and at least three of the county's four commissioners will be new to the group, with Underwood being the only potential holdover but also the only seat that is opposed by a Democrat in the general election.

“Baldwin County is going to continue to grow, and we need to be prepared for that growth,” Underwood said.

The moratorium took effect following the commission’s approval on Tuesday. 

Gabriella Chavez is a Report for America corps member who writes about growth and development in Baldwin County and our natural spaces for Gulf Coast Media. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.