Baldwin County Commission votes to scrap Horizon 2025

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) - BALDWIN HORIZON PLAN IN THE CROSSFIRE

Dozens of people took the podium at the Baldwin County Commission meeting. They were there to speak for or against the Horizon 2025 plan - Baldwin County’s detailed comprehensive growth plan that was passed three years ago.

Now, some people have said the plan is taking away private property rights.

Farmer Arthur Frego Jr., spoke against 2025.

"We paid our taxes, and I see now where on my deed where I have to relinquish my property rights to an appointed group of people," he said.

Others, like Craig Skaggs, said the recommendations laid out in the 160-page plan protects private property.

"We live in an area of this county that doesn't have any zoning in it," Skaggs told us. "We had to have some kind of assurance that if we bought a property and build a home, that our property values would be protected."

2025 - A WORLD-WIDE CONSPIRACY?

Some see the plan as part of a world-wide conspiracy by the United Nations. Several speakers mentioned Agenda 21, a UN plan to encourage environmental sustainable growth , that the speakers said was a cover for a communist government land-grab.

Tom Hogan said he's studied Agenda 21 for years and the Horizon 2025 plan was modeled on it.

"This plan, as you’ve come to understand, was deliberately designed to fly under everyone's radar," Hogan said. "Their goal is to squeeze people into narrower and narrower habitation areas, as silly as that sounds, and we turn as much land over as possible to the public domain."

Not everyone subscribes to the conspiracy.

"All this information about Agenda 21 is pure poppycock," Skaggs replied. "They promote the fear of the people by pumping out this silliness, and I hope the people can get over that and attend, instead, to the importance of the plan."

HORIZON SETS RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT NOT MANDATORY

Tammy Herrington with Mobile Baykeepers said the importance of the plan is environmental protections and notes that nothing in it is mandatory. She said it's just to be used as guidance.

"It's a vision about how Baldwin County should develop, and we believe it’s a good vision for the county," she said.

THE VOTE

After the back-and-forth, which lasted more than five hours, the Baldwin County Commissioners held a vote on Horizon 2025. In a 3-to-1 decision, the plan was scrapped and the book was closed on Horizon 2025.