In 1971, the Alabama Legislature passed a Comprehensive Land Use Management in Flood Prone Areas Act. This act gives permission to county governments to enact zoning to help limit development of areas exposed to flood damage; guide development away from areas threatened by flooding; reduce damage that floods cause and initiate long term management and use of flood prone areas.

     The act must, however, be implemented by the County before it comes into use. The  Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission developed a plan to implement the act using the quarter/quarter section method of designating land as flood prone. This method encompasses more land than the FEMA flood prone map covers. A coalition of developers has objected to this method, and a motion was made that the County Commission ask the Attorney General for an opinion about using this method to select land for zoning.

  At the County Commission meeting on Jan. 15., Commissioners Wayne Gruenloh and Charles Gruber voted to ask for an opinion from the Attorney General thus expressing their support for effective flood prone zoning. Commissioners Frank Burt and David Ed Bishop voted against asking for an opinion thus expressing their lack of support for effective zoning in flood prone areas.