Murphy Oil Seeks Fairhope Site Plan Approval for Gas Station at Highways 181 and 104

Murphy Oil USA, Inc. will go before the Fairhope Planning Commission on Monday, July 6, seeking site plan approval to build an automobile service station on the northwest corner of State Highway 181 and State Highway 104 — and the city's planning staff are recommending the commission approve it.

Staff cover sheet and location maps for the Murphy Oil site — July 6 meeting packet.

The request is listed as item G on the agenda, case SR 26.04. Murphy Oil is the applicant of record, filing on behalf of the property owner, Corte Cave/Mitchell 1, LLC. According to the site plan in the meeting packet, the project is a one-story, 2,824-square-foot service station on a 1.18-acre parcel — Lot 4 of the Planter's Pointe Subdivision, at the corner of the two highways with access from Rockwell Boulevard. The plan shows 11 parking spaces plus 16 under the fuel canopy, about 30 percent landscaped open space, and a building roughly 18 feet tall, below the 30-foot maximum for the B-2 general business district.

Proposed site plan for the Murphy Oil station, with the site-data table — July 6 meeting packet.

Staff recommend approval, with conditions

In their written report, planning staff recommend that the commission approve the site plan subject to conditions — chiefly a revision to the tree and landscape plan. Staff found the project compliant on setbacks, building height and landscaping. The report notes the applicant asked to plant nine understory trees in place of nine required overstory trees; the city horticulturist approved the substitution to ease crowding on the site, and the plan adds six crape myrtles along Highway 181.

Staff report for case SR 26.04 — July 6 meeting packet.

The project's path so far

The station has cleared one board already: the Fairhope Board of Adjustment approved a special exception on April 21, 2026, allowing an automobile service station on the site — a step such stations must clear in the B-2 district. The parcel has a longer history. The Planning Commission approved a preliminary plan for the Planter's Pointe development in November 2020 and a nine-lot subdivision in 2021; the property conditionally annexed into Fairhope in December 2021; and a final plat followed in December 2023. Monday's site plan review is the engineering-focused stage — layout, access, parking, drainage and landscaping — that comes before building permits. The item appears as new business, meaning the commission has not previously voted on it.

A fast-growing corner

The 181-and-104 crossroads has become one of the Eastern Shore's fastest-growing commercial corners. The Publix-anchored Planters Pointe center opened along the stretch in December 2023, Fairhope's second Wawa opened nearby at 22148 Highway 181 in March 2025, and area news outlets have reported a Culver's, a Wendy's, a 7 Brew coffee stand, an Advance Auto Parts and an Express Oil Change under construction, with a Jiffy Lube also on the way. The Planning Commission recently backed a site plan for a Foosackly's and a Just Chillin' ice cream shop on the same corridor. State Highway 181 itself is slated to be widened from Highway 104 south to U.S. 98 — a project the Alabama Department of Transportation has carried through planning but for which construction money has not been secured, leaving the corner a known traffic pinch point as the development arrives.

The commission could approve the site plan, approve it with conditions, table it, or ask for revisions before deciding. The Fairhope Planning Commission meets Monday, July 6, at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Fairhope Municipal Complex, 161 N. Section St.