Fairhope officials further discussed a series of proposed amendments to the city’s zoning ordinances with the public.

City council has been looking at proposed changes to their zoning ordinances while a building moratorium is in place temporarily pausing certain housing developments. It is currently set to expire on July 17 as city leaders continue to work on the zoning ordinance changes. The moratorium first began in February 2025, with the only multiple-occupancy project applications affected being those that contain three or more residential units and subdivision applications containing three or more residential lots smaller than 10,500 square feet per lot.

Proposals discussed on Monday, April 20, at a Fairhope City Council meeting include amendments to certain residential properties located within zoning districts B-3a and B-3b, which include residential homes on commercially-zoned property, including changes that would regulate short-term rentals such as needing a business license, parking requirements and not causing problems with neighboring homes.

City officials had discussed removing single-family and two-family uses from zoning districts B-3a and B-3b, but due to previous concerns from residents in these districts over how the proposed amendment would affect their properties, Director of Planning Hunter Simmons did not recommend it to city council, suggesting that they would need to further work on certain details for these proposals in particular.

Other amendments discussed include amendments that would no longer allow certain residential types, such as single-family, two-family and townhouse dwellings, in zoning districts B-1, B-2 and B-4, which are mainly commercial and business districts, although pre-existing properties in these districts would be grandfathered in.

City officials also discussed special conditions and clearer definitions for residential properties such as townhouses, multi-family/apartments, mixed-use buildings and planned unit developments (PUD), which mainly consisted of giving clearer instructions on what specific requirements that are being asked for regarding properties such as size.

Although not considered to be as time-sensitive, other proposals discussed on Monday include requiring site plan reviews for certain projects, impervious surface limitations and amendments “focused on preserving the scale and character of the Central Business District,” including requirements for building height, floor area ratio (FAR) and parking.

With the meeting capped at three hours, Councilman Jimmy Conyers called the zoning ordinance amendments an ongoing process as city leaders seek input from the public, but said they are “making progress” and will “come back with items addressed (and) buttoned up,” suggesting they might have a future work session or another special meeting to further discuss the amendments.