Almost 200 New Homes Coming to Robertsdale
ROBERTSDALE Ala
By Dale Hines
February 9, 2025
The Baldwin County Planning Commission has cleared the way on Thursday for a new subdivision to be built in Robertsdale despite the concerns of area residents.
“This is an area that’s beautiful. It’s peaceful,” Lisa Mitchell, a nearby resident said during the meeting. “One hundred and ninety-three homes, is, to my thinking, it’s not smart, it’s not wise, it’s a little crazy.”
However, the county planning and zoning commission unanimously granted preliminary plat approval for Southtown Phase II, a 193-lot subdivision with nearly 200 homes off County Road 48 just outside of the city limits of Robertsdale.
The first phase of Southtown was approved in 2006 and is adjacent to the new development.
Robertsdale is one of the fastest growing cities in the county. According to the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, since 2000, the county’s population has grown by more than 88% and this very much concerns those who have grown up here and seen it go from a quiet rural community, once known as just a pass-through town to the beach to a bustling city.
From 2010 to 2024, the city of Robertsdale’s population grew by 35.7%, according to the Baldwin County EDA.
One of the areas that has been impacted by such fast growth has been public safety services.
Both the fire and police departments have seen their daily call volumes increase substantially over the past five years.
The city is still served by a volunteer fire department which can sometimes be dispatched to multiple fire response calls a day.
Population growth in the city has brought challenges to the county as it transforms from largely rural to suburban and urban. County residents frequently complain that the influx of new people and the new homes built to accommodate them which they say puts a strain on the infrastructure in their area.
A traffic study was performed as part of the subdivision application, and the traffic engineer determined no road improvements were warranted. The Alabama Department of Transportation also determined that no improvements were warranted at the intersection of County Road 48 and State Highway 59 for this development.
The owner and developer of the property is listed in Baldwin County records as Jimmie Marie LLC, based in Haleyville.
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