FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Interested residents will get their annual 10 minutes of public participation on planning and zoning issues tomorrow night, at a time when many people are still at work.

The first annual public participation forum before the Planning Commission will begin at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Fairhope Civic Center.

When the new, single annual meeting was created last year to replace the public participation section during its monthly meetings, several commission members stated the meeting should occur at a time when the general public could attend. It is unclear why the planning department recommended earlier this month that the first annual meeting be held at a time when many working people will be unable to attend.

However, when that time was recommended on Feb. 1, no commission members raised any question about starting the meeting later, for example at 6 p.m., such as when City Council meetings now begin, in order to accommodate 9-5 employees who wish to attend.

“We don’t want this to be just a chance to complain,” commission member Lee Turner said on Feb. 5, 2009, when the monthly public participation portion of commission meetings was eliminated and replaced with a single annual meeting. “The (new meetings) would be better served with a moderator, or we might just have everybody complaining about everything we’ve done wrong for the past 25 years.”

The commission amended its bylaws last February to create that single meeting for general public comments. The decision to eliminate a public participation portion from its monthly agenda followed several meetings in which local activist Paul Ripp spoke on issues not on the agenda, criticized the actions of the commission, and made recommendations for how the commission should conduct its business regarding enforcement of city ordinances and rules.

Ripp also won a lawsuit against the commission involving his property in an appeal from that body’s denial of his attempt to subdivide it. He is also the lead named plaintiff in a wide-ranging class action against the city of Fairhope and others, raising numerous questions about how planning decisions have been made and enforced in Fairhope.

Ripp is expected to appear at tomorrow night’s public participation forum, but it is unclear what, if any, impact the meeting will have on Planning Commission decisions, policies or procedures.

“We would have a meeting like this that would be more beneficial to the public,” commission chairwoman Jean Wilson said at the February 2009 meeting when the public participation sections were eliminated from the agency’s monthly agenda. “Our (monthly commission) meetings are not well suited for the public to give us their ideas on more than those ideas scheduled on our agenda.”

The commission still takes public comments on certain scheduled agenda items as required by state and city law and regulations, which are limited to a maximum of three minutes per person.

The commission’s new bylaw adopted last February states that “a public participation forum with the planning commission will be held one time per calendar year for general public comment. … Public comments will be limited to planning and zoning issues relevant to the city of Fairhope, and in any event, all individuals shall be limited to ten minutes.”

The commission did not take public comments last year about its decision to eliminate its monthly public participation opportunity or regarding the new annual meeting.

The commission’s attorney, Chris Gill of the Hand Arendall law firm, who works on a contract basis for the city regarding planning commission matters and, and until recently, attended its monthly meetings, agreed with Wilson at the February 2009 meeting that public comments were not needed prior to adopting the proposed changes in the commission’s bylaws.

It is unclear whether Gill, himself, will be attending tomorrow night’s meeting.

During the work session prior to Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilman Rick Kingrea stated that he and Council President Lonnie Mixon met with Mayor Tim Kant recently regarding excessive attorney’s fees charged by law firms representing the city, including those of the Hand Arendall firm, which gets the lion’s share of city legal work.

Kingrea and Mixon updated the council members and others attending the meeting, that Gill was no longer attending all monthly meetings of the commission but only those at which he was specifically needed. He did not attend the Feb. 1 meeting.

They also noted that his current legal fee rate billed to the city is higher than it should be, and that efforts are being made to adjust it accordingly. They did not provide specific details regarding his fee rate and what an appropriate one should be.

Although commission meetings are now digitally audiotaped, it is unclear whether tomorrow’s meeting will also be recorded.

The Public Participation Forum on planning and zoning issues starts at 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Fairhope Civic Center.