Africatown residents are pushing for the historic Mobile community to be designated a “safety zone” under the city’s updated zoning code, arguing that encroaching industrial development threatens both the health of residents and the neighborhood’s potential as a heritage tourism destination.
City officials began revising Mobile’s Unified Development Code (UDC) several years ago, but the effort hit another snag when Africatown residents raised concerns about industrial activity moving closer to their residential areas. The proposed safety zone amendment would cover the entire perimeter of Africatown’s residential areas.
Health and tourism at stake
Resident Joe Womack said the industrial encroachment is becoming a real issue for the community’s health and well-being. “If some industry wants to tell me why they don’t want to protect people, then maybe I’ll agree with them, but I can’t be convinced of that right now,” Womack said.
Residents also worry that industrial expansion will hinder Africatown’s growing tourism potential. Since the discovery of the Clotilda slave ship wreck in the Mobile River in 2019, the community has been part of multiple plans to attract visitors. “We want something that rivals what’s going on in Montgomery,” Womack said. “They have a billion-dollar African American culture tourism business and we believe we can do that in Africatown, but we have to have those businesses stay away from us.”
A difficult balance
The safety zone amendment would be added to the UDC, which has been debated on multiple city council agendas for years and represents the most wide-ranging revision to Mobile’s zoning law in at least 50 years. The push prompted the council to delay the UDC adoption vote by two weeks to allow further discussion.
District 2 Councilman William Carroll acknowledged the challenge of balancing industrial interests with community protection. “We are close to some language that protects both the sovereignty of Africatown but also has a good use for industry in the vicinity,” Carroll said. “I don’t think anybody wants to stop heavy industry work. What people want to stop is the smothering of a community that’s been there since before the Civil War.”
The area generates billions of dollars annually through ports and industrial operations, making any zoning changes a complex negotiation between economic interests and the rights of a community with deep historical roots.