City of Fairhope: Working Waterfront and Greenspace Restoration Project

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Mobile (FUA)

Region

Northern America

Native title of the NBS intervention

City of Fairhope - Working Waterfront and Greenspace Restoration Project

Short description of the intervention

Fairhope's Municipal Pier is a popular bayfront destination featuring a 1/4-mile pier, swimming areas, picnic spots, a landscaped rose garden, benches, restrooms, a marina, a restaurant, walking trails, and a duck pond. However, the area has been fragilized over the years. The beaches are absent and less prominent now, due in large measure to the presence of shoreline hardening (Ref 5), making the shoreline more vulnerable to climate hazards (Ref 5).
The main goal of the Working Waterfront and Greenspace Restoration Project is to introduce safe and user-friendly improvements to the 10-acre South Beach Park area, which encompasses the Municipal Pier (Ref 2). These upgrades aim to enhance the public's use and access of the waterfront, while ensuring the park's long-term resilience and sustainability (Ref 2). The new design tackles both the structural issues of the bulkhead/seawall and the overall aesthetics of the Fairhope Pier area (Ref 2).
Over the years, storms, particularly Hurricanes Sally and Zeta, have compromised the structural integrity of the anchoring hardware of the bulkhead/seawall, causing parts of the wall to shift. Additionally, water intrusion behind the wall has eroded the soil supporting the walkway in certain areas (Ref 2). Other important features include new handrails, decking, restroom facilities, and lights on the pier. The project will also add new stairs leading to the bluff, restore the fountain, and renovate the parking lot. A funicular lift will be installed at the bluff to enhance accessibility (Ref 5).
Pedestrian safety will be improved to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other enhancements include landscaping with new irrigation, and the construction of new sidewalks (Ref 2, Ref 4).

Website of the intervention

https://www.fairhopeal.gov/community/working-waterfront

Principal problems

Climate-Related Hazards

Coastal flooding

Coastal hazards (e.g. erosion, flooding)

Environmental Degradation

Soil degradation and loss

Land use and Socio-economic change

Economic losses due to disasters and environmental degradation

Implementation area characterization

Climate

Temperate ( Humid subtropical, Hot-summer Mediterranean, Warm-summer Mediterranean, Warm-temperate with dry winter)

Ecosystem

Urban or built environment

Address

1 N Beach Rd
Fairhope, AL , 36532
United States

Location

The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).

Area boundary (map-based)

NBS area image

Source of NBS area image

1) City of Fairhope website
https://www.fairhopeal.gov/community/working-waterfront accessed on 23/09/2024
2) Google Maps
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Municipal+Park,+Fairhope,+AL+36532,+%C3%89tats-Unis/@30.5248495,-87.9176873,16z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x889a4096f01ecf35:0xf5235e8dddd2c935!8m2!3d30.5240334!4d-87.912181!16s%2Fg%2F11bvtl51b5?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D accessed on 23/09/2024

Total area

40468.60m²

Area description

Other urban area outside city center (e.g. another municipality in the FUA, commuting zone)

Seascape

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Public Greenspace Area

Sea coast (e.g. dunes, beach)

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

2020

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2024

End date of the intervention

ongoing

Present stage of the intervention

Ongoing

2. Objectives of the intervention

Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

1. Shoreline reinforcement (Ref 5)
2. Allow public access to water bodies (Ref 5)
3. Providing outdoor recreation (Ref 5)
4. Provide education opportunities about the coastal ecosystem (Ref 5)
5. Improve the safety of the Municipal Pier (Ref 2).
6. Enhance citizens' use of the waterfront facilities (Ref 2).
7. Ensure the long-term resiliency and sustainability of the park (Ref 2).
8. Address structural issues with the bulkhead/seawall (Ref 2).
9. Enhance the aesthetics of the Fairhope Pier area (Ref 2).

Key Priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation)

Social Justice and community

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Climate change adaptation

Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)

Coastal protection / hazard mitigation

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Water management (SDG 6)

Flood protection

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Creation of opportunities for recreation

Enabling opportunities for physical activity

Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Restore sediment supply to coastal zone

Protect and restore coastal ecosystems, to address loss of land and livelihoods, due to rising sea levels

Implementation activities and NBS focus

Implementation activities

1. Repair of the 50-year-old bulkhead/seawall to address structural issues caused by storms, particularly Hurricanes Sally and Zeta (Ref 2).
2. Installation of new handrails and decking on the pier (Ref 2).
3. Addition of new restroom facilities on the pier (Ref 2).
4. Installation of new lighting on the pier (Ref 2).
5. Construction of new stairs leading to the bluff (Ref 5).
6. Restoration of the fountain (Ref 5).
7. Renovation of the parking lot (Ref 5, Ref 4).
8. Installation of a funicular lift at the bluff (Ref 5).
9. Improvements and upgrades for pedestrian safety and traffic flow, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (Ref 2).
10. Renovation of the park with new landscaping and irrigation (Ref 4).
13. Installation of new sidewalks (Ref 4).

Type of NBS project

Maintenance and management of urban nature

Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks)

Updated management structure of existing green spaces (e.g. parks)

Coastal landscape management or protection

Improving coastal resilience

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Blue infrastructure

Coastlines

Grey infrastructure featuring greens

Green parking lots

Coastal defences / dikes

Parks and urban forests

Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces

Amenities offered by the NBS

Benches and drinking water stations

Sports areas and equipment

Swimming areas

Educational or biodiversity trails

Complementing infrastructure (bathrooms, café)

Viewing and outlook points

Design elements for well-being

Visual elements (e.g., expansive views, scenic views, natural light, diverse vegetation)

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Regulating services

Coastal protection

Cultural services

Tourism

Aesthetic appreciation

Recreation

Mental and physical health and wellbeing

Scale

Spatial scale

Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)

Beneficiaries

Demographics in implementation area

Demographics in Fairhope in 2022 (Ref 6):
- population: 22,605
- median age: 44.9
- median household income: $85,456
- poverty rate: 10.7%
- ethnnicity: white (Non-Hispanic) (89.1%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (4.53%), Other (Hispanic) (2.38%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (1.18%), and Two+ (Hispanic) (1.07%).

Socio-economic profile of the area

High-income

Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts

Yes

Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities

Coastal communities

Primary Beneficiaries

Citizens or community groups

Marginalized groups

Specify primary beneficiaries

- the citizens: "enhance citizens’ use of the waterfront park facilities" (Ref 2)
- marginalized people: people with disabilities: "Pedestrian safety, including improving and upgrading existing facilities and traffic flow to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act" (Ref 2)

Marginalized groups

People with functional diversities

People with invisible disabilities

Measures for inclusion of marginalised groups

"Pedestrian safety, including improving and upgrading existing facilities and traffic flow to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act" (Ref 2)

Specify measures taken for vulnerable or marginalized communities

Implementation of specific programs to address the needs of these communities

Other beneficiaries

Native plant vegetation

Natural habitats (e.g. wetland, forests, coastal areas)

City infrastructure (e.g., reduced flooding, improved water quality)

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Government-led

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

- The city of Fairhope leads the project (Ref 2)
- Rolin Construction Inc. (an Alabama-based construction company) was awarded the construction contract (Ref 2)
- Goodwyn, Mills, and Caywood: the contracted engineer companies that designed the project (Ref 2)
- the public was asked to comment of the design of the project (Ref 2)
- fundings: grant from the RESTORE Act (national government) (Ref 2) and from the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council (regional government) (Ref 2) and from the budget of the city (Ref 7)

Key actors - initiating organization

Local government/municipality

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

National government

Regional government

Citizens or community group

Private sector/corporate actor/company

Stages of citizen and community engagement

Planning and design (e.g. site selection, identification of key priorities)

Decision-making among different alternative plans

Level of citizen and community engagement

Moderate

Community empowerment or capacity-building initiatives

Support of local entrepreneurs or small business development related to the project

Participatory methods/forms of stakeholder involvement (all stakeholders)

Dissemination of information and education

Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Uncommon actors ("Missing actors")

Unknown

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to a Regional Directive/Strategy

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Unknown

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Unknown

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Unknown

Enablers & Barriers

Type of enablers

Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships)

Please provide details (e.g, name of the plan or strategy) for the selected policies or initiatives.

the city of Fairhope partnered with different private companies to design and implement the project (Ref 2)

Governace and decison-making instruments

Strategic instruments (e.g. GI strategies, green space strategy or plans)

Public - private business agreement (e.g. public private collaborations, public-private-partnerships (PPP))

Arrangements for governance cooperation

Formal coordination mechanisms to oversee project implementation and decision-making (e.g., multi-stakeholder steering committees, working groups)

Barriers

unkown

Financing

Total cost

Less than €10,000

Please specify total cost (EUR)

$8.8 million + $1.2 million = 10 000 000 dollars = 8 998 667,97 Euros (exchange rate on 23/09/2024: 1 USD = 0,899867 EUR)
"In April 2024, the extra funds were approved bringing the grant amount to $8.8 million. The city will cover the remaining construction costs of $1.2 million" (Ref 7)

Source(s) of funding

Public local authority budget

Public national budget

Public regional budget

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Co-finance for NBS

Yes

Co-governance arrangement

A fund / grant

Entrepreneurship opportunities

Yes

What entrepreneurship opportunities have arisen from the NBS project?

Urban greening or landscaping companies

What types of actors are leading the entrepreneurship activities linked to the NBS project?

Private sector companies engaging in community-led initiatives

What types of support are provided to entrepreneurs engaged in NBS-related activities?

Unknown

Business models

Risk reduction model

Green densification model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Climate change

Storm / wave induced erosion and flooding

Expected storm / wave induced erosion and flooding

Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters

Expected strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters

Enhanced protection against extreme weather events (e.g. storms, cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion)

Expected enhanced protection against extreme weather events (e.g. storms, cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion)

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Expected increased green space area

Description of environmental benefits

-Storm / wave induced erosion and flooding: "water intrusion behind the wall has eroded the soil supporting the walkway", "One of the major structural components is the repair of the 50 year old bulkhead/seawall" (Ref 2)
-Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters: "Years of storms, especially Hurricanes Sally and Zeta, have threatened the structural integrity of the anchoring hardware allowing portions of the wall to shift." "One of the major structural components is the repair of the 50 year old bulkhead/seawall" (Ref 2)
-Enhanced protection against extreme weather events (e.g. storms, cyclones, tidal surges, coastal erosion): "Years of storms, especially Hurricanes Sally and Zeta, have threatened the structural integrity of the anchoring hardware allowing portions of the wall to shift." "One of the major structural components is the repair of the 50 year old bulkhead/seawall" (Ref 2)
-Increased green space area: "The park will be renovated with new landscaping" (Ref 4) "The 10-acre South Beach Park area" (Ref 2)

Environmental impact indicators

Total number of vascular plant species protected or introduced

unknown

Green space area created (in ha)

unknown

Economic impacts

More sustainable tourism

Expected more sustainable tourism

Description of economic benefits

- More sustainable tourism: "The main purpose of the project is to make safe and user-friendly improvements to the 10-acre South Beach Park area (Municipal Pier) to enhance citizens’ use of the waterfront park facilities" (Ref 2), "This specific grant is State of Alabama’s RESTORE Act Direct Component funds that promote economic development and tourism" (Ref 2)

Economic impact indicators

Number of jobs created (e.g. park maintenance, landscaping, ecotourism)

unknown

Social and cultural impact indicators

Surface area of accessible green spaces (in ha)

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

No evidence in public records

Cost-benefit analysis

Unknown

Transparency

Inclusion of diverse stakeholders in project governance processes (e.g. planning, implementation, monitoring, etc.)

Clear communication channels for stakeholders to provide feedback, raise concerns, and ask questions about the project

Public disclosure of project funding sources and/or budgets

Justice

Community satisfaction

Unknown

Description of locals satisfaction with the project

unknown

Trade-offs & Negative impacts

Unknown

Please specify Trade-offs & Negative impacts Selected

unknown

Measures to prevent gentrification or displacement

No initiatives or policies were implemented

High-quality & Transformative NBS

Multiple impacts delivery (climate, biodiversity, just community)

Yes

Goal setting and impacts delivery

No, although benefits were delivered in all the 3 key areas, but in the planning phase, the project did not aim to address issues in all the 3 key priority areas.

Reaching original project goals

Inconclusive as the project is still undergoing implementation, or is still on its planning stages

Long-term perspective

Yes

Cost-effective solutions

Unknown

Equitable impacts

C. Unknown

Transformative capacity

Technical change (e.g. built infrastructure of cities and their parts, roads, buildings and so on)

Magnitude of change

Reformist: by focusing on addressing underlying drivers of change but failing to address the problem structurally or systemically

Application of lessons learned

Unknown

Perception of Environmental Change

Unknown

6. Sources

References

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (n.d.). Eastern Shore. Mobile: Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

City of Fairhopes (n.d.). Working Waterfront. Fairhopes: City of Fairhopes, p. 1-2 Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Harmon, K. (2023). Bid for Fairhope's Working Waterfront and Greenspace project more than what the city expected. Fairhope: NBC 15 News, p. 1-3 Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

APEX Accelerator Alabama (n.d.). CITY OF FAIRHOPE WORKING WATERFRONT AND GREENSPACE PROJECT. Fairhope: APEX Accelerator Alabama, p. 1-3 Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (2023). Eastern shore watershed management plan. Mobile: Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, p. 110, 203, 204 Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

CityData.com (2022). Demographics in Fairhope - CityData.com. Fairhope: CityData.com, Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Lecroy, M. (2024). Fairhope’s Working Waterfront project advances. Fairhope: Gulf Coast Media, p. 1-3 Accessed on September 23, 2024, [Source link] [Archive];

Comments and notes

Public Images

Fairhope Pier park

https://gulfcoastmedia.com/stories/fairhopes-working-waterfront-project-advances,226385#// accessed on 23/09/2024

Pier park historical comparison: showing the erosion of the coastline and the loss of beaches

https://www.mobilebaynep.com/assets/uploads/main/ESWMP-20230816-FINAL.pdf page 208 accessed on 23/09/2024

Faihope working waterfront - overall plan

https://www.fairhopeal.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/30719/638597427904070000 accessed on 23/092024