FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A two-vehicle accident Tuesday near the entrance to the Publix Super Market under construction on U.S., 98 resulted in one driver being airlifted to the University of South Alabama hospital in Mobile, according to the Fairhope Police Department.

“One driver was taken to USA by helicopter as a precaution with non-life threatening injuries,” FPD Sgt. Craig Sawyer said. “The other driver was taken to Thomas (Hospital in Fairhope). Both drivers were conscious as they were being treated on scene.”

Sawyer said the vehicles were southbound on U.S. 98, about 100 feet south of Cipriano Court between Veterans Drive and Parker Road, when the accident occurred.

“There is a cut-across for turn there at the new construction site,” Sawyer said. “The truck was turning, and the sedan struck the rear of the truck causing the truck to overturn. The witnesses said it appeared that the truck departed Cipriano Court, turning to the right on U.S. 98. Then the truck moved to the far left lane, possibly in preparation of turning left into the cut-across. Then the sedan struck the rear of the truck. It is undetermined if the primary factor in the collision was the lane change by the truck or possibly speed by the sedan.”

The names of the drivers were not released by the FPD, and their conditions could not be determined by press time.

“The unthinkable happened,” Fairhope resident Chris Warner said Tuesday, referring to his contention that an alleged violation of a city ordinance in how the Publix is being constructed could result in an accident.

“I said this was going to happen. It unfortunately did. This is why I have been so diligent. Let’s pray for the victims.”

Warner and Fairhope resident Paul Ripp have been vocal and frequent critics of the Publix construction project. They have complained that the developer of the project has violated numerous city ordinances during construction but has not been penalized by the city for the alleged violations.

One allegation Warner has made repeatedly in letters and statements to the city, letters to the editor and other communications to the public and media, involves a city ordinance that requires that “accessways upon Greeno Road shall be located not nearer than 600 feet to other accessways, and where established shall, to the maximum extent practicable, align with accessways existing on the opposite site of the highway, within the corporate limits.”

Warner has claimed that ordinance was violated when an accessway for Publix was constructed less than 600 feet from Wachovia Securities, located just south of the construction site on the east side of U.S. 98.

“The Wachovia Securities entrance is within 600 feet of the main entrance of (Publix),” Warner wrote Jan. 5 in a letter to the City Council. “This is a violation of (section 19-67(c)). If someone is injured or killed at this intersection, their attorneys are going to own the city of Fairhope.”

The city’s planning director, Jonathan Smith, made the following comment about whether the city ordinance was a valid law of the city and, if so, if it had been violated when the Publix accessway was constructed within 600 feet of another accessway.

“City Council President Debbie Quinn made a statement at the (Feb. 9) council meeting related to Chris Warner’s citations,” Smith said. “The city has no further comment.”

During the Feb. 9 council meeting, Quinn read from a statement that she said had been in consultation with legal staff, the mayor’s office and the planning department.

“To date the staff of the city has investigated each written allegation provided to the city,” Quinn’s statement said. “The staff has advised the mayor and this council that all written allegations that have been provided to the city relative to the Publix project are either inapplicable or are false and incorrect. For example, the majority of the alleged violations contained within the written materials provided to the City are alleged zoning ordinance violations. However, the zoning ordinance sections that are cited by the party submitting the complaint are with respect to perceived violations of the 1992 version of the city of Fairhope’s zoning ordinance. This ordinance was repealed long ago and does not constitute the current zoning regulations of the city of Fairhope. The sections cited by the complaining party no longer have any application.”

The ordinance that Warner cited to the city regarding accessways, section 19-67(c) in the city’s Code of Ordinances, is listed on the city’s Web site and states there that it was adopted on March 11, 1998.

Warner said in his Jan. 5 letter to the council that lawyers for any persons injured near that accessway would cite the violation of the ordinance in their lawsuit as a cause of the accident.

“People can call me crazy,” Warner said Tuesday. “But when I see something wrong, I will continue to say it’s not right. And this is not right.”

On Tuesday, the city issued a citation against the general contractor of the Publix development for failing to control and prevent erosion on the site and the depositing of silt on public rights of way and adjacent or nearby property. Heavy rainfall over the weekend resulted in clay from the site flowing into nearby Fly Creek, according to photos taken of the area by local residents.

The citation may carry a $500 fine and is the first punitive action taken by the city against the developer since construction began last spring, city officials said Tuesday.