SPANISH FORT, Ala.—A local businessman’s plans to transform an abandoned service station into a grab-n-go crawfish establishment will have to wait at least another month while the Planning Commission seeks clarification of a crude site plan and awaits a rezoning request for the property.

The site-plan application introduced during Monday’s regular meeting on behalf of Bruce Sanders seeks to create a “crawfish preparation and customer pickup facility” on the former service-station site at the intersection of Spanish Fort Boulevard and Stanton Road. An existing auto repair shop on the same lot, Harold’s Automotive Repair, will not be affected by the proposed development.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) A. Hudson McDonald, an engineering and construction consultant representing Sanders during the meeting, said his client has no plans to change the existing structure except to have the canopy removed and spruce up the exterior by closing in the garage doors and replacing them with a glass storefront.

McDonald said he has also worked closely with representatives at Baldwin County Sewer Services in recent weeks to create a plan that would place the company on sewer services, while Sanders agrees to transform the existing septic tank into a grease trap. He said he has also worked in tandem with Building Official Bruce Renkert to design temporary landscaping and planter boxes to boost the exterior’s green space without making any permanent changes.

Commissioner Kevin Diamond said his first impression of the proposed project is that it does not conform to the wishes for a “walkable community” expressed in the city’s working comprehensive plan.

Diamond said his understanding is that “some sort of commercial activity” would suit the area, but “grab your crawfish and go doesn’t meet what we have in the plan.”

The discussion also raised the issue of how Sanders intends to zone the property and whether approval of such a request would affect future development of the site, and McDonald noted that the Baldwin County Health Department is going to require the establishment to conform to restaurant standards operationally.

Commissioner Mary Brabner said she understands Diamond’s concerns, but she said it is her understanding that in the city’s efforts to create a walkable community conversations have often focused on attracting mixed-use developments to that area.

“A B-2 with a restaurant is ideal for that area,” Brabner said.

When commissioners finally put the issue to an informal poll asking each to determine if they considered the request to be a restaurant or seafood retail establishment, the vote actually split evenly 4-4 with Mayor Joe Bonner absent and unable to cast the tie-breaker.

In turn, a motion was made that Sanders file zoning requests for both types of establishments and clarify significantly the site plan submitted, so that the commission can consider all of the information during the September meeting.

“(Sanders) is in no hurry. We want to do this right,” McDonald said.

In other business the commission:

The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Spanish Fort United Methodist Church Prodisee Center, immediately following a 6 p.m. work session.

An informal work session will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 in the conference room at City Hall.