SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Further discussion of a moratorium on multi-family housing developments will carry over to the City Council’s March 2 meeting.

The council Jan. 26 unanimously voted to extend a moratorium on multi-family housing developments to study how the developments will impact the city and its zoning ordinance. The moratorium began Sept. 24, 2007, and lapsed from Sept. 24, 2008 until the council voted to extend it until Sept. 24.

The council Monday voted 5-1 to add ‘manufactured /mobile home park and/or other developments’ to the moratorium. Councilman Joe Thomas cast the lone dissenting vote for the measure that required unanimous approval; the matter will appear on the March 2 agenda. The ordinance in place since January was not repealed; the new ordinance will just go over the other one in place with the clarification.

A Jan. 4 application to the Planning Commission requested a 21-unit manufactured mobile home park off Cemetery Road.

The Planning Commission at its Feb. 9 meeting said it was aware of the moratorium and needed clarification from the City Council before voting on the land use and site plan since the list of multi-family  units in the ordinance wasn’t exclusive and said “but not limited to apartments, condominiums or townhouses.”

“This was a chance for us to take a breath,” Councilman Tom Sawyer said of the moratorium at the council’s work session. Sawyer said he is also concerned with the amount of increased traffic that would come to U.S. Highway 31 if the mobile home park is approved.

“The intent was to minimize high-density housing,” Councilman Dennis Dismuke said Monday. “This definitely falls into the category of high-density housing.”

Councilman Mike McMillan said he feels the proposed mobile home park falls under the moratorium and “definitely has a major impact on our city.”

Concern is that the property will have one owner with several families living on one property.

A single-family dwelling, by definition, houses one family with separate cooking facilities for that one family. A two-family dwelling is for two families with separate cooking facilities for both families. A multi-family dwelling houses three or more cooking facilities for multiple families, according to City Attorney David Conner.

Mayor Joe Bonner said he believes the mobile home park is considered to be multi-family.

Initially the property for the proposed mobile home park was zoned R-4–manufactured home park–and was rezoned to R-3 to allow for a 63-unit apartment complex. Approximately one year after rezoning was approved,construction had not begun. The applicant requested an extension to construct the apartments and the zoning ordinance was amended and rezoned from R4 to R3 for another year extension.

After another year the apartments weren’t constructed and the applicant cited the economy. The applicant now wants to construct a mobile home park and has given the the city a time restriction that the units could be taken out after 10 years and construct apartments when the economy and market are more favorable.

Also Monday, during public participation, Tina Findley, a registered nurse and tobacco prevention and control coordinator, aired concerns that Spanish Fort is the only city in Baldwin County that doesn’t have a smoke-free ordinance.

Brian Hodges spoke out to the council about the smoke-free ordinance and said he supports it. He said it is hard to go out to dinner with two children and deal with cigarette smoke drifting over to the non-smoking side of the restaurant.

Bridgette Wilson and Tandra Matthews also spoke in favor of the smoking-free ordinance during public participation.

“I’m a non-smoker and I support it,” Thomas said of the ordinance.

Dismuke recommended that the council add the issue to a future meeting agenda.

In other actions, the council:

Bonner asked for a motion to go into executive session to discuss good name and character. Councilwoman Mary Brabner made a motion, seconded by McMillan and was unanimously voted “yes” by the council.

The executive session lasted approximately 40 minutes then the meeting was adjourned.

City Hall will be closed Feb. 24 in observance of Mardi Gras.

The  next City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 2 at The Gathering Place, at highways 98 and 31 in the Prodisee Center.