Gulf Shores moving Mardi Gras Parade to Beach Road

Gulf Shores moving Mardi Gras Parade to Beach Road
By John Mullen
The city of Gulf Shores is moving this year’s Feb. 13 Mardi Gras parade to the beach road in a move officials say will have less of an impact on traffic for the annual event. The parade rolls at 10 a.m. on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 13 and the Orange Beach parade starts at 2 p.m. the same day.
“Looking at the traffic impacts to Highway 59, if we don’t need to shut down the foot of the bridge at 20th Avenue and detour people east and west, the traffic overflowing from Fort Morgan Road across Highway 59 can continue to flow,” Grant Brown said. “Highway 59 and all the businesses along the route can continue to operate like normal all the way until it gets to First Avenue.”
During its Jan. 8 work session, the council also heard plans for a new pizza place in the beach district in the former Blonde John’s store and plans for a 163-lot active adult subdivision on County Road 8.
Another parade concern, Mayor Robert Craft said, is the bridge widening project on Alabama 59 just north of Windmill Ridge.
“The first year is a good consideration because of the construction on the bridge and potentially it could still be a one-lane situation through there,” Craft said. “It gives us an opportunity to see if it works then we’ll know after that if we want to continue or not.”
Brown, the city’s director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said the success of the reversal of the 2017 Christmas parade help officials decide to try a route change.
“Because of the construction on the beach and the roadways, we reversed the parade route,” Brown said. “It allowed us to form the parade and stage the parade in the West Gulf Place area on the main highway and it went flawlessly. It was very effective for the participants. It created very little or no traffic disruptions. It was just a very good way to stage the parade.”
When officials from the recreation, public works and police departments got together after the Christmas parade, the idea of a beach-road Mardi Gras parade was discussed.
“During the recap meeting from the Christmas parade our events people concluded that it would be in the best interest of public safety and the public in general for the parade to run the parade from Highway 59 to the east of Highway 135 near the state park,” Brown said.
From there, Brown said, floats not participating in the afternoon Orange Beach parade can take Alabama 135 north. And, those in the Orange Beach event have permission from the state park to stage in the pier parking lot.
“With the new sidewalks we have we feel like this is a much safer route and a good way for people who will be coming to view the parade to find appropriate parking and find a good place to watch the parade,” Brown said.
Big Blue Pizza
Craft said the city is concentrating on development on the east side of Alabama 59 in the beach district and Big Blue Pizza and a new Surf Style with condominiums on top at Gulf Place are the types of new businesses officials want to see. Off-site parking will have to play a big role if the area is to grow, Craft said.
“When you look at redevelopment on the east side of town, if we require all the parking to be onsite on all of the lots that are there then we’re not going to get much development,” Craft said. “I think that this concept has got to be something we look at favorably if we want to be able to develop that area in a way that is best for that area.”
Hangout owner Shaul Zislin is developing the projects and was seeking a variance in the zoning law so he could use off-site parking for both. He plans to build a 132-space parking lot at the corner of beach road and East First Street, easy walking distance from the restaurant and proposed condos. There will be eight to 10 spaces on the street by the pizza restaurant including handicap spaces.
“The zoning ordinance says that all parking spaces be located on the same lot as the principal use unless a conditional use permit is granted by the city council,” City Planner Andy Bauer said. Both projects combined require 99 parking spaces and the lot will have 132. The planning commission gave the proposal a favorable recommendation at its Dec. 19 meeting.
If the area is to continue development drainage issues will have to be addressed there as well. With that in mind, Bauer said the city is planning to apply for a $60,000 Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community Practice grant to develop a plan for handling water in the area.
“In order for Gulf Shores to achieve its goal of creating a compact, walkable neighborhood downtown district we can’t have onsite retention ponds on every individual site,” Bauer said. “We need to look at this as an area-wide study and plan and that’s exactly what this grant application will allow us to do. If we are able to get it we’ll be able we can take the whole beach area and develop a master storm drain plan so in the future each project can tie into this and won’t need onsite drainage.”
In other business, the council:
• Heard a request to rezone 58 acres rezone from general business to residential immediately west of Craft Farms North Phase II on County Road 8 for an active adult subdivision, or age-restricted neighborhood for ages 50 or 55 and older. Dewberry Preble-Rish made the request.
• Hired Dr. Suzanne Freeman for $35,000 to serve as education consultant as the Gulf Shores School Board negotiates a separation agreement with the Baldwin County Board of Education.
• Heard a request from Kevin Corcoran for a conditional use permit to build a mini storage facility with 439 units near the east end of County Road 8 on the north side of the road. Councilman Jason Dyken expressed concerns about having a “warehouse district” because planned improvements to the road will make the road a new entrance to the city. The Planning Commission gave it an 8-0 favorable recommendation on Nov. 28.
• Opened a bid of more than $44,000 to buy aluminum trash and recycle bins for the Gulf Place Project. A grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will cover the cost.
• Discussed spending more than $133,000 to repaint city annex buildings on Clubhouse Drive across from City Hall and the police department.
Mardi Gras Parade road closures
The City of Gulf Shores would like to make all residents and visitors aware of the following traffic flow modifications related to the Mardi Gras Parade:
6 a.m.: West Gulf Place will be closed. Parking will only be available for parade participants and float setup.
8 a.m.: Access to Highway 182 via West First and West Second Street will be closed. Traffic headed west or north will detour via West Third Street onto West First Ave.
9:45 a.m.: Access to Highway 182 via Highway 59 will be closed. Access to Highway 182 via East First, East Second and East Fourth Street will be closed. Traffic headed westbound on Highway 182 near the Gulf State Park Pier will be diverted to Highway 135 for access to Highway 59.
11 a.m.: All normal traffic conditions should resume.
If severe weather moves in and the parade is canceled, there will be no make-up date. For more information contact City Hall at 251-968-2425 or visit gulfshoresal.gov.