The Baldwin County Commission is now considering a new zoning map and zoning ordinances for planning district 39, on the west side of Fish River, outside of Fairhope, which were adopted last week by the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission.

The county commission will have the final say on whether the ordinances take effect in what has been a hot spot for development for the past year.

The residents of district 39 are the latest to adopt zoning as development in Baldwin County continues to proliferate. If an area in unincorporated Baldwin County is unzoned, property owners do not have to abide by the regulations laid out in the Baldwin County Zoning Ordinance.

After the residents of district 39 voted in February to adopt zoning, an advisory committee made up of five residents held meetings with planning and zoning staff to come up with the zoning map and the local provisions to regulate development in the area. According to Matthew Brown, director of the Baldwin County planning and zoning department, none of the eight advisory committee meetings lasted less than four hours.

One unique provision was to designate live-oak, magnolia and cypress trees as “high-value trees” and institute rules to preserve the trees even as development continues.