BAY MINETTE – The Board of Registrars confirmed that the zoning election for Planning District 18 stands as is with residents turning down the land-use regulations by a slim margin: 160 voted against, 151 voted in favor, and four provisional voters were deemed ineligible due to living outside the limits of the district. 

The land-use election, if voted in, would have established regulations to manage growth, according to county officials and proponents. 

Opponents, however, contended that the regulations pigeon-hole property into classifications such as residential, which limits the ability to sell the parcel for commercial purposes or defines the limits to the number of units per total acreage. 

The election was spurred by property owners of the subdivision Twin Bridges Estates off County Road 20. 

The construction of two commercial buildings near some residents backyards and also, next to the roadway entering the residential neighborhood, encouraged the property owners to ask county commissioners to hold a zoning election for District 18. 

District 18, encompassing land north of Gulf Shores, south of Robertsdale, and outside the corporate limits of Summerdale and Foley, was and now remains unzoned, meaning that construction, in most situations, is permissible with a building permit. 

Zoning regulations require developers to meet site-specific measures and land-use considerations such as the separation of residential and commercial parcels. 

According to county regulations, District 18 will not be able to hold a zoning election until one year after the election date, March 27. 

The election pertained only to county properties.  Municipalities have the authority to enact zoning regulations without the need for an election.