FAIRHOPE, AL — A standing-room-only planning meeting ended in rare consensus Tuesday when every resident who moved to Fairhope last year demanded immediate action to prevent people from moving to Fairhope this year.
Speakers described the proposed arrivals as a direct threat to the small-town character they personally discovered between nine and fourteen months ago.
“We did not move here just to watch other people move here,” said fictional resident Courtney Newcome, who closed on her house 11 months ago. “At some point, somebody has to shut the gate. Ideally right after our furniture delivery.”
Newcome told commissioners that Fairhope felt different when her family arrived, citing lighter traffic, shorter brunch waits and the comforting knowledge that the house under construction next door had already been sold to her.
Establishing seniority
Several speakers asked the city to adopt a rolling residency cutoff under which the newest qualified residents would become the final acceptable residents.
The proposal would grant “established local” status after one hurricane-preparation cycle, two complaints about parking and the ability to name a restaurant that was better before it moved.
Residents could earn expedited status by beginning a public comment with, “This isn't why we came here.”
Fictional planning commissioner Anne Xation asked whether the policy would have prevented current speakers from moving to the city last year.
The room observed a brief moment of procedural silence.
“That was different,” Newcome said. “There was still room then.”
When asked how she determined that room no longer existed, Newcome pointed to a line of cars outside the meeting, including her own sport-utility vehicle positioned across two spaces because she had been running late.
Another recent resident warned that continued growth could erase the authentic Fairhope experience his family had enjoyed since March.
“People come here without understanding what makes this place special,” he said. “They see one article, spend a weekend downtown and decide they should live here.”
He then described making the same decision after spending a weekend downtown.
Commissioners tabled the proposal until next month, allowing this year's arrivals enough time to establish residency and object to everyone scheduled to arrive after them.
Growth should have stopped
Immediately after everyone currently here arrived.