The Daphne City Council has unanimously approved a temporary pause on apartment development applications, joining a growing list of Baldwin County cities that have slammed the brakes on residential growth while they rewrite their zoning rules.
The resolution, passed without discussion at the council’s regular Monday night meeting at City Hall, immediately blocks the city from accepting, processing or approving applications for new apartment developments while the city redefines a slate of zoning codes related to residential development.
What the moratorium covers
“Effective immediately upon adoption of this ordinance, the city shall not accept, process, or approve any application for rezoning, pre-zoning, site plan approval, master plan approval, planned development approval, or other development approval for any new apartment development within the corporate limits of the city of Daphne,” the resolution reads.
Specifically, applications will be stalled if they include “Multi-Family, Garden Apartment” development as defined in the Land Use and Development Ordinance, including such developments proposed within the R-7(A) Apartment District, the R-4 High Density Single & High Density Multi-Family Residential District, and any Planned Unit Development containing a garden apartment component.
Council members did not discuss the resolution before passing it. Other types of development are not affected.
“This Ordinance shall not apply to townhomes, duplexes, condominiums, single-family detached dwellings, or other residential development types that are not classified as apartment developments under the LUDO,” the resolution reads.
Part of a Baldwin County pattern
Daphne joins Fairhope, which recently extended its own moratorium on certain multi-occupancy housing projects while it finishes a slate of zoning code changes. Last year, several other Baldwin County cities passed similar pauses on development to bring local infrastructure and development laws up to speed with the county’s rapid growth.
Baldwin has been one of the fastest-growing counties in Alabama for years, and its cities have struggled to keep roads, water and sewer systems, and schools ahead of the building boom. Municipal officials across the Eastern Shore have argued that pausing certain high-density applications gives them breathing room to update comprehensive plans, subdivision regulations and zoning districts written for a much smaller population.
What it means for developers and renters
The pause applies to new applications, not projects already in the pipeline, and it leaves townhomes, duplexes and single-family subdivisions free to proceed. Still, apartment developers eyeing Daphne now face an indefinite wait, and the council gave no timeline for when the zoning rewrite — and the moratorium’s end — will be complete.
Housing advocates have warned that moratoriums on apartments can tighten an already strained rental market on the Eastern Shore, where vacancy rates are low and rents have climbed alongside the county’s growth. City officials counter that smarter rules will produce better-sited, better-designed multifamily projects when the pause lifts.
The resolution took effect immediately upon adoption. Residents and developers with pending or planned apartment projects should follow the city’s planning calendar for updates on the zoning overhaul that will ultimately replace the freeze.