Gulf Shores to expand sidewalks in beach walking district

Gulf Shores to expand sidewalks in beach walking district
575 unit development planned for parcel south of West 36th St.

By John Mullen
Gulf Shores is in line for another Transportation Alternatives Program grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation to further expand sidewalks in the beach walking district.
This time the grant is for nearly $660,000 with the city’s match being $159,000 which will come from money paid to the city by the developers of the Embassy Suites coming to beach road and West First Street.
In other business, the city is being asked to change beach access rules on a stretch of West Beach Boulevard to allow developments and homes on the north side access to the Gulf. Also, a developer is seeking a planned unit development on 83 acres south of West 36th Avenue for a project to put in 575 housing units from single-family homes to townhomes to apartments.
“The total grant is for $880,000 for the cost of the and the city is required to put up 20 percent in matching funds,” Environmental and Grant Coordinator Dan Bond said. “That $159,000 will be provided as part of the city’s development agreement for construction of the new Embassy Suites hotel. It’s really a win-win for the city.”
It’s just one of several recent TAP grants the city has secured through ALDOT to build new sidewalks along beach road and Alabama 59 from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway Bridge.
“In total, since 2015, the city has secured $2.3 million in funding through ALDOT for the construction of a total of eight linear miles of eight-foot sidewalks and landscaping improvements along Alabama 59 Alabama 182, nine new traffic signals with pedestrian crossings, a widened Alabama 59 at Waterville to increase the capacity of the turn lane and a new pedestrian bridge at Bayou Village,” Environmental and Grant Coordinator Dan Bond said.
The newest project will expand sidewalks on East First Street and East Second Street, East First Avenue, West First Avenue and portions of West First Street and West Second Street.
“The overall project will include on-street parking and landscaping and all sorts of different amenities to create some complete streets throughout that downtown district to improve access, improve safety, improve congestion and hopefully stimulate local businesses,” Bond said. “The concept is to improve the properties for the people who own them so they can improve business and encourage people to move there.”
While the streets in the district seem narrow there is historically a wide right of way on each.
“When the city was originally laid out back in the 1930s by George Meyer he laid out rights of way of 80 feet and 100 feet,” City Administrator Steve Griffin said. “Generally, there is only about a 24-foot pavement in there. What this project is planning to do is use all 100 or 80 feet of that for additional sidewalks with additional on-street parking.”
Seeing the TAP grant totals, Griffin said it prompted him to study how much grant money the city has received lately for projects. Since 2015 he said the city has received a total of $47.7 million for a variety of projects and the city’s matching cost was $3.6 million for a total of more than $51.3 million. Not included in this total, Griffin said, is more than $5 million secured for projects at the airport.
New Housing
The Lake Tract is seeking approval for 120 attached villas, 270 apartments, 35 attached carriage homes, and 150 single family houses on the land south of West 36th Street. Overall the development proposes 575 units which equal 6.9 units per acre. Under the existing zoning, approximately 1,377 units could be developed on the property.
Architect Dennis Drewyer made a presentation to the council saying the project’s goal is to provide a variety of housing options including the apartments to provide “workforce” housing which is at a premium in Gulf Shores.
“As demonstrated by our concept plan, we hope to provide the variety of choices from attached villas with garages, multi-family units with amenity activities and greenspace, carriage house homes with porches and a single-family detached village of homes with sidewalks, paths, and a central park,” Drewyer said. “This calculated mix of product and density is intended to serve not only our return on investment but the confirmed need in our adopted Gulf Shores for ‘workforce’ housing. We could probably make more money by maxing out the R-4 permitted densities, but we are not.”
A PUD requires a change in the zoning ordinance so it has to have two readings before the council before it can be voted. The Sept. 17 was the first reading and public hearing and it will come before the council again in the coming weeks for a second reading.
During the meeting the council also:
• Accepted a $60,000 2018 Coastal Planning Grant which consists of $30,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with a $30,000 match from the city of in-kind services and money. It will be used to develop a master stormwater master plan for the walking district near the beach. The goal is to eliminate the need for on-site detention ponds the city says “are not compatible with compact, pedestrian-friendly development.” In the same meeting, the council agreed to hire Volkert to do a field survey and design engineering for the stormwater master for the beach walking area at a cost of $55,000.
• Agreed to spend more than $382,000 to buy new body and in-car video cameras for the police department. WatchGuard will be paid $371,630 for the equipment and Haynes Electric will be paid $10,500 to install it.
• Set Sept. 24 public hearings for two liquor license applications, one for the Island Liquors at 401 Gulf Shores Pkwy. and one for Valor Hospital for the new Gulf State Park Lodge.
• Agreed to pay JJPR $10,000 to develop a brand identity, design and maintain a website for the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism and Sustainability. The city received a $9.7 million Restore Act grant to build the center and earlier this month hired a consultant for $25,000 to develop the programs for the center.
• Authorized the Mayor to execute an agreement with Airbnb for voluntary collection of lodging tax. The vacation rental company will begin collecting and remitting Gulf Shores’ portion of the lodging tax on behalf of their hosts.