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.