SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Spanish Fort’s unprecedented growth in the past five years has created an uneven northern border, sparking preliminary discussions of potential annexations among City Council members.

Mayor Joe Bonner has asked the council to educate themselves on the three basic methods available for annexation and consider a timeline for when the subject might next be addressed.

City Attorney David Conner said the first method involves landowner consent, requiring a property owner to sign a petition stating the property is contiguous and closer to Spanish Fort’s city limits than any other municipality.

"It’s tedious, but that’s how we got all the way to the Eastern Shore Centre," Conner said.

The second option requires a referendum under state law, and while this method also requires the land to be contiguous, it also requires a "substantial common boundary," he said.

The third, and most common employed by the city to date, tactic requires a local legislative act. If the property in question is either unimproved or 100 percent of its property owners consent, en the annexation can occur without a referendum, Conner said, pointing to the Causeway and "certain areas around Spanish Fort Estates" as successful examples.

With the Alabama legislative session ending in late May, Conner said the council members leaning toward the local legislative act route would need to have their proposals ready for the next session that won’t begin until late January or early February 2012, but he cautioned that the item could languish until as late as June 2012 before being considered.