FAIRHOPE, Ala. — On the day before Thanksgiving, Baldwin County Circuit Judge James H. Reid ruled in favor of two Fairhope residents. His decision ordered the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve a minor subdivision application they requested last year.

Paul and Mariah Ripp contested the commission’s June 2007 decision, which denied their application to subdivide one lot into two in a neighborhood east of Greeno Road.

Motions for summary judgment filed by petitioners and the commission have been pending since July 2008.

“On Wednesday at 2 p.m., Judge Reid ruled on the motions, granting (the) Ripps’ motion for summary judgment (to order the commission to approve the subdivision application) and for the city on the question of (money) damages,” Chris Gill, the commission’s attorney, said during Monday’s commission meeting.

Gill said the parties had worked out an arrangement where neither would appeal the court’s rulings, but the commission itself would have to take that action formally, unless it decided to appeal the ruling.

“You’re under an order to grant the subdivision application,” Gill said. “Technically, we could appeal, but it’s in the best interests of the city, and it’s time to put this behind us.”

Judge Reid’s order was two sentences long, and did not explain in detail the rationale for the rulings.

“The record speaks for itself,” said Mark Taupeka, the Ripps’ attorney, stating the court based its ruling on the evidence, legal briefs and oral arguments presented to the court.

According to the Ripps’ legal filings in the case, the commission had approved a similarly sized subdivision in a nearby neighborhood in 2006. The documents also noted that the planning department recommended to the commission that it approve the Ripps’ application.

In June 2007, the commission voted 4-2 to deny the application, over the planning staff’s recommendation that it be approved. Chairperson Jean Wilson, Councilman Mike Ford, Gary Moore and Lee Turner voted to deny the application, with Dan McCrory and Dick Charles voting to approve it.

“I think it’s unfair for one person to be treated differently from another,” Paul Ripp said Tuesday, adding that he has seen the commission approve applications similar to his since his petition was filed. “The city needs to be more acutely aware, particularly the (commission), regarding potential liability issues. They’re under the impression that they are immune from being responsible for their decisions, and that is not the case.”

After Gill’s presentation to the commission, it voted to approve the subdivision application and agreed not to appeal the case. The vote was unanimous except for one abstention by a member, who was not on the commission at the time of the initial decision.

“The commission as a whole is made up of good individuals with good intentions but they do no always have all the facts,” Ripp said.

Since the denial of his subdivision application, Ripp has obtained hundreds of public records from the city and become interested in other commission and city planning decisions, including issues surrounding the Publix construction site at Parker Road and U.S. 98/Greeno Road. Ripp addressed the commission about that issue Monday and also during the City Council’s meeting last week. He has called for the city to appoint a committee to investigate problems at that construction site.

Earlier this year, the city prohibited him from speaking about planning issues at one council meeting while the litigation was pending. But a letter from his attorney citing First Amendment rights resulted in his being put on a later agenda.

“I certainly hope this case serves as a kind of wake-up call,” said Ripp, referring not only to subdivision applications but other rulings of the commission and decisions of the council regarding planning issues.

“I don’t think it should be up to citizens to file a lawsuit if the city is not enforcing its own ordinances,” he said.