Filing Questions If Northport 'Pre-Committed' Approval Of University Beach Improvement District

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Northport resident and newly elected City Council member has filed a new motion ahead of Thursday's scheduled bond validation hearing for University Beach, arguing that the City Council’s prior actions may have violated state law by pre-committing to approve the creation of the project's Improvement District.

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In a filing submitted Tuesday in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, Tuscaloosa attorney Joseph T. Cox III — representing District 1 Councilman Turnley Smith — entered a Notice of Appearance and Submission of Law in the ongoing case of The University Beach Improvement District v. The Taxpayers and Citizens of the City of Northport.

As Patch previously reported, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet will preside over a hearing on Thursday to determine whether a proposed $59.7 million bond issue for the University Beach Improvement District should be validated by the court.

Citizens will have the opportunity during the hearing to present evidence to the court as to why the bond issue should not be validated.

The memorandum filed Tuesday contends that the Northport City Council’s Sept. 23, 2024, vote to establish the improvement district may have been procedurally defective because the city had already contractually agreed to support the district months earlier.

ALSO READ: University Beach Improvement District Board Manager Has Long History Of Regulatory Violations

The court filing cites Section 5.01 of the development agreement between Northport and University Beach, which states that the city will “in good faith cooperate with the developer’s efforts in the creation … of any district.”

Smith’s counsel argues that such language could amount to an unlawful surrender of legislative power, effectively binding the council to approve the creation of the improvement district before public hearings were held.

“The law will not bear a governmental authority to ‘embarrass or surrender its ability to function in the future,’” the memorandum states, asserting that the council’s process “was reasonably susceptible to an interpretation rendering the city’s actions mandatory.”

Cox’s filing cites Alabama case law that restricts municipalities from entering contracts that predetermine legislative outcomes, including City of Leeds v. Town of Moody and Haas v. City of Mobile.

Tuesday's filing also points to statements by city officials suggesting they believed rejection of the University Beach project could expose Northport to significant legal or financial risk.

If validated, the bonds would carry a court certification affirming their legality and marketability, clearing the way for financing of the planned $350 million resort-style development.

As Patch has previously reported, the City of Northport has already committed over $20 million for infrastructure improvements for the project.

This also comes after a massive and long-stalled project in Texas previously associated with developer Kent Donahue defaulted on its development agreement with the City of Rowlett.

Patch previously reported that Donahue is a member of the three-member University Beach Improvement District Board, along with developer John Hughes and investor Katie Le.

Smith’s memorandum urges the court to scrutinize whether the Northport City Council “abdicated its legislative responsibility” and to consider granting the city “an unfettered right to reconsider the district guided only by good-faith legislative judgment.”

Thursday's bond validation hearing is set for Thursday at 9 a.m. in Judge Pruet's courtroom on the seventh floor of the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

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