Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Debra Wymer has filed a civil lawsuit for herself and “all others similarly situated” against Gulf Shores over the misuse of impact fees collected by the city from developers.

A state law passed in 2006 allows local government to charge the fees to “assess and collect impact fees on new development for governmental infrastructure purposes.”

Wymer’s suit, originally filed in June in Baldwin County Circuit Court, claims Gulf Shores has been using the fees for other purposes not directly related to the developments the fees have been collected on and is collecting more than the 1 percent allowed for in the law. Judge J. Clark Stankoski is presiding.

“Based upon a review of the ordinances and their application, defendants have failed to make a constitutionally sound, individualized determination that each impact fee charged by the city has been related in nature and extent to the impact of the proposed development,” the filing states. “Rather, it appears that defendants include the underlying land values in the calculation of every impact fee and impose fees pursuant to a ‘schedule’ that does not properly account for the particular demands on city infrastructure attributable to each new development for which a fee is imposed.”

Another part of the same law requires the impact fees be reviewed yearly, something the lawsuit claims the city is not doing.

“Upon information and belief, defendants have failed to properly do so,” the filing states. “As a result of these failures, defendants have failed to adjust impact fees to only fund or recoup the costs of governmental infrastructure necessitated by and attributable directly to specific new developments.”

In an Aug. 8 response to the lawsuit, the city’s answer is it owes no explanation because the ordinance clearly states how the impact fees are to be assessed and collected.

“The statutes speak for themselves and citations to their language do not require a response by the city,” the city’s filing states. “Any interpretation of the statutes by plaintiffs is denied.”

The city “denied” 42 claims made in the original filing saying, “The allegations as denied raise questions upon which reasonable differences may exist in view of all the circumstances.”

The city’s answer also claims “fraud and/or concealment and/or deceit by plaintiffs.”

Gulf Shores also filed a motion to have the individual parties, the mayor and city council members, removed as individual defendants because state law says officials can’t be sued in their official capacity. They are Mayor Robert Craft and councilmen Joe Garris, Gary Sinak, Philip Harris, Jason Dyken and Steve Jones. They are waiting on the judge to rule on the motion.

“Under Alabama law, a claim against a city representative in his or her official capacity is in effect a claim against the city itself,” the city’s motion states. “A court should therefore dismiss claims against city representatives and allow the lawsuit to proceed against the city.”

Wymer is represented by John Parker Yates, Kristopher O. Anderson and Grant Blackburn. Attorneys listed on the city’s motion for dismissal include David F. Walker and Andy Rutens.

In 2020, Destin “Chilly” Williams and his wife Kim filed a lawsuit against Orange Beach over the impact fees on their new home at 5145 Sampson Avenue. Anderson was their attorney in that lawsuit which has since been settled.