Fairhope Modifies Waterfront Plans

A new Working Waterfront plan proposed for Fairhope would not have a sand beach where bulkheads are now in place on South Beach. | Photo by Guy Busby via gulfcoastnewstoday.com

WKRG recently reported that, following the City of Fairhope reopening the comment period for the $6.2-million RESTORE Working Waterfront project in November 2020 (Fairhope Reopens Commenting For Waterfront Project), proposed changes in the South Beach bluff that had drawn complaints from some residents are being dropped from Fairhope Working Waterfront. Designers and city officials also nixed plans for a sand beach south of the Fairhope Pier, according to Scott Hutchinson of Mobile firm Goodwyn Mills Cawood, which is working on the project. Council members and Mayor Sherry Sullivan will consider the new draft of the plan and take action on the proposal at an upcoming meeting. Hutchinson added, “We’re proposing now, based on input, to not do a sandy beach, but simply do either a new bulkhead type of material or either, possibly, more of a living shoreline, which is grass beds, things like that, which is something that you wouldn’t sit at the beach and enjoy.”