GULF SHORES, Ala. — The Gulf Shores City Council is set to discuss issuing an assembly permit for the 53rd Annual National Shrimp Festival, along with an annexation request and a zoning amendment, during its Aug. 3 work session at 4 p.m.
This year’s National Shrimp Festival will be held Oct. 8-11 at Gulf Place, at the intersection of State Route 59 and Beach Boulevard, including the area around the Hangout. In addition to two stages of live music, the four-day festival draws vendors selling art, food and other goods along the sidewalks and greenways of Gulf Place.
Items discussed at the work session are expected to come up for a vote at the council’s next regular session on Sept. 14. The council will not meet on the Sept. 7 Labor Day holiday.
Also on the work session agenda:
The council will consider renewing an annual contract with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to help the city’s building department streamline permitting, hear variance requests and patrol the beaches. The city would be reimbursed $66,550 for the services.
Council members will discuss amending the city’s zoning ordinance to modify the definition of the walking overlay district, adding a clause that would allow legally nonconforming residences to be rebuilt if destroyed. The planning commission gave the change a favorable recommendation at its June meeting.
The council will also weigh annexing 5.49 acres at 18789 Oak Road West, just west of the Gulf Shores Sportsplex. City staff recommended the property be brought into the city with single-family residential zoning. Officials said the annexation would not be affected by the city’s current moratorium on new multi- and single-family developments.
Separately, the council is expected to consider an assembly permit for the Bloody Mary 5K, scheduled for Sept. 5 at 7:30 a.m., starting and ending near Acme Oyster House in the Waterway Village District.