Having prevailed in a long legal fight over annexation by the city of Gulf Shores, residents of the Fort Morgan peninsula turned to a new question: what comes next. The Fort Morgan Civic Association weighed whether to petition to incorporate as a municipality, a step that would give the community its own local government.
Bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Bon Secour Bay to the north, Fort Morgan’s unincorporated area runs from the fort itself on the western tip of the peninsula east until it meets the Gulf Shores city limits. With the peninsula back under Baldwin County’s unincorporated jurisdiction, the civic association considered forming a government of its own rather than continuing to rely on county services and regulations.
Control over development
“We need to be in control of protection of our lifestyle, our environment — the wildlife and the environment on the peninsula,” said Sonja Sanders, the association’s news and website editor. “Our main goal is to have control of that, to have some say-so in what kind of development goes on here.”
The Alabama Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the association in 2012 and denied Gulf Shores’ appeal earlier in the year. The 400-member group said it would not settle on a course of action until its next meeting, scheduled for July 14.
Weighing the options
Incorporation was only one possibility on the table. “We have also looked at the options available with the Alabama statutes for either a preservation zone or a historic district,” said association president Paul Barefield.
Creating a historic district, like the one established for Stockton in north Baldwin in 2012, could be a viable path, according to Charles “Skip” Gruber, chairman of the Baldwin County Commission and a resident of Elberta. “It gives them protection from being incorporated or incorporating themselves,” he said, cautioning that becoming a municipality would bring new responsibilities. “If they do that, all the streets become theirs,” he said, noting county-maintained roads would shift to local upkeep.
If the association did pursue incorporation, Barefield said, the boundaries would follow Baldwin County’s Planning District 25, running from the Gulf Shores city limits to the tip of the peninsula. “The primary reason that we brought the lawsuit when the city illegally annexed us was to control height and density on the peninsula,” he said. “Those are still our priorities. We don’t want any more monstrosities,” he added, referring to high-rise condominiums along the narrow 19-mile stretch.
Broad interest in the outcome
Robert Craft, mayor of Gulf Shores, said he shared the goal of restrained development. “We want to control development so we don’t negatively impact traffic in our community,” he said. “A massive development of condominiums down there — that would destroy our city.”
The end goal, officials said, was to give peninsula residents more control over their future, whichever route the association chose. “This is just a way to give local people more input, more local say about what happens to their community,” said state Rep. Steve McMillan, R-Gulf Shores, who represents the area.
McMillan and Gruber were both scheduled to attend the association’s meeting, along with Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose. Pittman said he planned to come ready to listen. “What I want to do is hear as much as possible,” he said.