FAIRHOPE, AL — Fairhope planning officials unveiled a new architectural-review fast track Tuesday that allows applicants to avoid lengthy design scrutiny by proposing at least 200 houses at the same time.
The program is expected to reduce the city's approval backlog by dividing the amount of public concern by the number of units involved.
“Reviewing one porch is difficult because everyone can see it,” said fictional planning consultant Marshall Setback. “Once a project contains several hundred porches, the eye stops trying. That creates efficiency.”
Under the new system, a homeowner replacing one front window must continue providing dimensions, photographs, paint chips, muntin specifications and written evidence that the change will not alter the neighborhood's spiritual relationship with glass.
A developer proposing 236 houses may instead display a rendering featuring mature live oaks, two bicyclists and a golden retriever.
Scale creates simplicity
Officials said large projects qualify for expedited review because their potential impact is too extensive to discuss one feature at a time.
“If somebody wants to add eight feet of covered porch, we need to understand every inch,” Setback explained. “If somebody wants to add 1.8 miles of rooftops, we have to respect the broader vision.”
Fast-track applications must include at least four of the following terms: walkable, timeless, coastal, thoughtfully planned, village-inspired and preserve. The word density may appear only in staff documents and conversations held after the public has left.
The first applicant, fictional developer Chip Massing, completed the streamlined process in 11 minutes after agreeing to vary the approved shades of white and install one bench near the retention pond.
At the same meeting, fictional resident Beverly Sill returned for a third review of a replacement screen door.
Commissioners praised Sill's revised hinge finish but requested a nighttime rendering, a drainage narrative and confirmation that the door would not be visible from any historically significant angle.
“I thought replacing the screen would take a weekend,” Sill said. “My grandson was in middle school when we started. He is now studying preservation law.”
Officials emphasized that the fast track is available to everyone.
Homeowners wishing to participate may simply acquire enough adjoining property to construct a planned residential community.
If one porch takes too long
Propose 200 of them.