Amendment will allow Barnwell and Rosinton residents to remain outside city limits

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For residents of Barnwell and Rosinton local amendments 3 and 4 that will appear on next week’s ballot are about simple rights.

Those who live in both unincorporated areas reside outside of city limits. They are not beholden to city rules such as limits on the use of firearms on their property or the keeping of livestock. They also can’t vote in city elections.

But they pay taxes to Fairhope and Loxley, respectively. In Barnwell, if they want to renovate their house, they must obtain a building permit from both the county and the city.

And now as Baldwin County’s population becomes the fastest growing in the state, residents in these areas worry that those nearby cities will annex their rural slices of historic Baldwin County and change the very core of the places they call home.  

Now, a homegrown effort to rally around these historic areas has landed what supporters say is a simple question on Tuesday’s ballot: should residents of unincorporated areas be asked if they want to be annexed or simply gobbled up by cities?  

“We’re not saying whether they should or should not try to annex us we just want to be asked if we want to do that or not,” said Boyd Little, who has helped to organize efforts in Barnwell to put the amendment on the ballot. “It seems like a no brainer for us just to be able to be asked before our property is annexed.”

Local amendments 3 and 4 create designated landmark districts in Barnwell and Rosinton. There is no definition of a landmark district in state law and the first to appear in the Alabama Constitution was the Stockton Landmark District, in north Baldwin County, created by a statewide constitutional amendment in 2012. Amendments 3 and 4 dictate that if passed, these districts cannot be annexed except under certain conditions.

On Monday night dozens of people in support of both amendments gathered in Fairhope to discuss the issue with local officials including newly elected Fairhope Council Member Corey Martin, state Representatives Joe Faust, Harry Shiver and Steve McMillan, Baldwin County Commissioners Billie Jo Underwood, Joe Davis and Skip Gruber, and state Senator Chris Elliott.

Each of the politicians took to the stage to offer their support of the amendment.

“This is your area. What you guys want to do with it, I’m in total support of your endeavors,” Underwood told the crowd.

There was some question among the crowd, however, as to what the amendment allowed.  

“We are choosing to separate ourselves if we do this,” said attendee Erik Cortinas, Fairhope’s Building Official and a Barnwell resident.

He said he was concerned that the city could retaliate by “cleaning up” zip codes and removing the Fairhope name from Barnwell addresses, therefore potentially lowering property values in the district. Others asked how the amendment would impact new construction and subdivision restrictions. Organizers assured the crowd the amendment did not allow those types of changes and addressed only the ability of the city to annex the property.

Many of the attendees lamented the fact that under Fairhope zoning laws they cannot allow their children to build homes on the family property but instead have to spend thousands to build the same infrastructure required of new subdivisions – strict measures not required by other Baldwin municipalities.

Underwood told the crowd that it would be beneficial to have uniform rules across the county, especially as growth continues to climb. The frustration that Barnwell residents feel, she said, was due to “overzealous ordinances and regulations.”

“I hope they can be sorted out when the newly elected people come in next week,” she said.

State Senator Chris Elliott commended the organizers.

“This is the best kind of government. This is citizen led, citizen driven,” he said. “I don’t know how to get any better government than that.”