Ala. Code § 11-19-16
For the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, convenience, order, prosperity, and general welfare of the state and counties, any county commission is hereby empowered to divide the portion of the county within the flood-prone area of the county into districts of such number, shape, and area as may be found best suited to carry out the purposes of this chapter and to provide within such districts for standards relating to the location, bulk, height, minimum elevation, number of stories, and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of lot which may be occupied, the sizes of yards, courts and other open spaces, the density and distribution of population, the uses of buildings and structures and of land for trade, residence, recreation, agriculture, forestry, conservation, water supply, sanitation, floodways, public activities, and other purposes.
Such provisions shall be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan of the flood-prone area and shall be designed to lessen congestion in the streets and highways; to secure safety from fire, flood, panic, and other dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; and to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water supply, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements.
Such provisions shall be made with reasonable consideration, among other things, of the character of the land and district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and with a view of promoting desirable living conditions, sustaining the stability of neighborhoods, protecting property against blight and depreciation, securing economy in governmental expenditures, conserving the value of buildings, and encouraging the most appropriate use of land and of buildings and structures throughout the flood-prone area of the county.
Ala. Code § 11-19-16 (1975)