Fairhope Infrastructure Strains Mount as 68 Ventures Litigation Continues and Park City Plan Emerges

FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Fairhope infrastructure remains under strain. The city has faced water shortages for three straight years, and sewer and other infrastructure projects approved in 2020 have not been completed. The city’s sewer plant is operating beyond capacity and discharges into Mobile Bay. More than 1,000 homes, condominiums and townhouses have been approved for future construction.

Dispute with 68 Ventures

The city has been in a legal dispute with developer 68 Ventures for about two years, after the Fairhope Planning Commission denied the company’s Skyline and Gables applications.

A motion filed in the case states that 68 Ventures began “secretly recording commissioners, private citizens and staff” after the commission denied the applications and before the company filed its lawsuit. The claim has not been decided by the court.

In an affidavit signed in March, planning commissioner and real estate agent Hollie MacKellar said that about a month after she voted against the Gables project, a couple from Atlanta contacted her about moving to Fairhope, and she helped them search for a home for many months.

“Unbeknownst to me, the Cuttinghams were impostors that were hired by 68V to secretly record me and attempt to entrap me into making statements against Nathan Cox, 68V and the Gables at Lawrence project,” MacKellar wrote in the affidavit. “I have since learned that almost all of what they told me was a lie, including their made-up cover story involving a pretend family and false reasons for contacting me.”

In its most recent court filing, the City of Fairhope denied or did not respond to the accusations against it. In a motion to dismiss, the city maintained it has the right to deny the developments, arguing that 68 Ventures is “attempting to turn a run-of-the-mill land use dispute over administrative denials into a constitutional case. But the facts alleged and documents submitted by 68V in the Complaint fail to allege a plausible cause of action against Defendants.”

Park City proposal

68 Ventures has since bought land from Hix and Snedeker, who had the property annexed into the city and obtained an approved planned unit development (PUD). Snedeker is Fairhope’s municipal judge.

The proposed development, called Park City, would sit at the intersection of Fairhope Avenue and Highway 181, near the city’s Walmart Supercenter and Aldi. Under the previously approved PUD, the site would have had big-box stores around the perimeter and houses in the middle, according to Jonathan Gray, a consultant on the project. The new plan calls for a dense, mixed-use village.

“Everybody always wants to say their project’s different, but what we typically see when we go to planning commission meetings is it’ll be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to put in more trees’ or, ‘We’re going to use rear entry for the condo,'” Gray said. “But what I haven’t seen is this kind of architectural application to it. This is really a replication of Downtown Fairhope, maybe old Downtown Mobile or New Orleans — areas where you’re seeing these themes come together.”

As presented, the development would include close to 700 dwelling units, among them 94 townhouse lots, 62 cottage lots and 272 multifamily rental units in standalone buildings and above commercial space in the mixed-use area. One section was presented as an “active adult multifamily” area for residents 55 and older, with 134 flats and 17 cottages. Half the units would be rentals and half would be for sale, built in phases.

Investors and schools

Investors in the project include U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who reported a $33,000 stock purchase in 68V 181-Fairhope Avenue 2023, LLC on Dec. 15, 2023, according to stock disclosure records. The purchase was made Dec. 14, 2023.

Gray, who serves as a public relations representative for 68 Ventures and also represents Baldwin County Schools, said 68 Ventures is the only developer in the area that works with Baldwin County Schools, meeting quarterly to share where it plans to build. He said the company is discussing a possible land swap with the school system to build a school, as it did for Stonebridge Elementary.

Next steps

The developers said they plan to submit the project to the planning commission next month. If they meet the May 21 deadline, the project could go before the commission July 1.