Orange Beach Comprehensive Plan Unveiled
Report takes stock of city, outlines development policies through 2020
Published By Mobile Press Register
Friday, December 01, 2006
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- The average daily seasonal population of this south Baldwin County resort city is expected to surge to 31,807 by 2020.
Perdido Beach Resort, with 350 on the payroll, has the most employees in town this year, followed by City Hall, which provides jobs to 246.
And a bridge over Wolf Bay, should it be built, could boost Orange Beach -- population: some 5,300 -- to a city of 52,000 by 2015. That figure assumes the city would bring in about 5,000 acres north of the bay and see them developed fully.
Should the bridge not materialize, Orange Beach should see more deliberate population growth resulting in a year-round population between 7,300 and 10,900 by 2015.
Such are among of the numerous nuggets of information about Orange Beach included in the coastal city's new comprehensive plan, unveiled by city planners Tuesday night.
The plan, which is intended to be a reference of sorts and guide development and municipal spending through 2020, replaces the last comprehensive plan, written and adopted in 1996. The new plan was prepared by city planners and the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission and was based, in large part, on the recommendations of several resident focus groups that caucused last year to chart the future of Orange Beach.
Called Horizons 20/20, that program resulted in reports on the city's needs related to issues such as transportation, zoning and land use, environment, education and culture. All that and more is addressed in the 118-page comprehensive plan, which was adopted by the Planning Commission on Nov. 14.
The document, which can be viewed on the city's Web site, www.cityoforangebeach.com, is exhaustive to be sure.
There is an inventory of the fire department's vehicles -- 24 in all -- and a listing of the number and nature of all calls the department received between 1995 and 2005. The library's current shelving capacity -- 3,186 linear inches -- is noted, as is the facility's future needs: 55,000 volumes by 2010.
If one ever wanted to know the amenities available at, say, Bear Point Park, they could turn to Page 80 and learn that the 2.3-acre plot next to Bear Point Marina features a swing set, two spring rocking animals, a see-saw, a metal square climber and one stub for a merry-go-round, which is, at the moment, missing.
On Page 41 there are 145 words on the city's need for street furniture, such as information kiosks, fountains both decorative and for drinking, and litter baskets. "Streetscapes are, in large measure, defined and enhanced by the orderly, disciplined installation of street furniture," the plan states.
Table 20 in the section on housing enumerates the utilities provided at the city's four mobile home parks. Another table, this one on Page 62, lists the average daily traffic counts on sections of the three state highways in Orange Beach -- Alabama 161 has seen traffic increase by 31 percent between 1999 and 2005 while vehicle volume on Alabama 182 between the Florida line and highway 161 is up only 3 percent in that same time.
"All this information really helps when you're starting to do a capital improvement plan," Community Development Director Jim Lawson told a group of about two dozen residents who gathered Tuesday night at the Orange Beach Community Center for the presentation. "When the council looks at where our money should be spent and what we should be doing, this type of comp plan really helps them out a lot."
Perhaps of greatest interest to residents are the portions addressing future development in the rapidly growing city. At its core the comprehensive plan envisions the city as five separate districts, or neighborhoods. They are:
The Gateway, which runs along Alabama 161.
Wolf Bay, which includes Sapling Point and other recently annexed but yet-to-be developed areas outside of Josephine.
Northwest Orange Beach, which includes the areas off Canal Road and Oak Ridge Drive west of 161 as well as those along the Foley Beach Express.
Beach Resort, which follows Alabama 182 along the Gulf.
East Orange Beach, which comprises the backbay neighborhoods east of 161.
"We hope over a period of time we'll be able to go into each of the neighborhood areas that are identified ... here and do some more detailed work," Lawson said.
He noted the plan currently being developed for the Bear Point area. While the comprehensive plan says this area should remain predominantly developed with single-family homes, the neighborhood plan will specify details such as the width of sidewalks, the style of streetlights and the placement of parks.
ON THE NET
Orange Beach comprehensive plan:
www.cityoforangebeach.com/pdfs/community)development/comprehensive)plan/2006/comprehensive)plan)2006.pdf
Published By Mobile Press Register
Friday, December 01, 2006
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- The average daily seasonal population of this south Baldwin County resort city is expected to surge to 31,807 by 2020.
Perdido Beach Resort, with 350 on the payroll, has the most employees in town this year, followed by City Hall, which provides jobs to 246.
And a bridge over Wolf Bay, should it be built, could boost Orange Beach -- population: some 5,300 -- to a city of 52,000 by 2015. That figure assumes the city would bring in about 5,000 acres north of the bay and see them developed fully.
Should the bridge not materialize, Orange Beach should see more deliberate population growth resulting in a year-round population between 7,300 and 10,900 by 2015.
Such are among of the numerous nuggets of information about Orange Beach included in the coastal city's new comprehensive plan, unveiled by city planners Tuesday night.
The plan, which is intended to be a reference of sorts and guide development and municipal spending through 2020, replaces the last comprehensive plan, written and adopted in 1996. The new plan was prepared by city planners and the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission and was based, in large part, on the recommendations of several resident focus groups that caucused last year to chart the future of Orange Beach.
Called Horizons 20/20, that program resulted in reports on the city's needs related to issues such as transportation, zoning and land use, environment, education and culture. All that and more is addressed in the 118-page comprehensive plan, which was adopted by the Planning Commission on Nov. 14.
The document, which can be viewed on the city's Web site, www.cityoforangebeach.com, is exhaustive to be sure.
There is an inventory of the fire department's vehicles -- 24 in all -- and a listing of the number and nature of all calls the department received between 1995 and 2005. The library's current shelving capacity -- 3,186 linear inches -- is noted, as is the facility's future needs: 55,000 volumes by 2010.
If one ever wanted to know the amenities available at, say, Bear Point Park, they could turn to Page 80 and learn that the 2.3-acre plot next to Bear Point Marina features a swing set, two spring rocking animals, a see-saw, a metal square climber and one stub for a merry-go-round, which is, at the moment, missing.
On Page 41 there are 145 words on the city's need for street furniture, such as information kiosks, fountains both decorative and for drinking, and litter baskets. "Streetscapes are, in large measure, defined and enhanced by the orderly, disciplined installation of street furniture," the plan states.
Table 20 in the section on housing enumerates the utilities provided at the city's four mobile home parks. Another table, this one on Page 62, lists the average daily traffic counts on sections of the three state highways in Orange Beach -- Alabama 161 has seen traffic increase by 31 percent between 1999 and 2005 while vehicle volume on Alabama 182 between the Florida line and highway 161 is up only 3 percent in that same time.
"All this information really helps when you're starting to do a capital improvement plan," Community Development Director Jim Lawson told a group of about two dozen residents who gathered Tuesday night at the Orange Beach Community Center for the presentation. "When the council looks at where our money should be spent and what we should be doing, this type of comp plan really helps them out a lot."
Perhaps of greatest interest to residents are the portions addressing future development in the rapidly growing city. At its core the comprehensive plan envisions the city as five separate districts, or neighborhoods. They are:
The Gateway, which runs along Alabama 161.
Wolf Bay, which includes Sapling Point and other recently annexed but yet-to-be developed areas outside of Josephine.
Northwest Orange Beach, which includes the areas off Canal Road and Oak Ridge Drive west of 161 as well as those along the Foley Beach Express.
Beach Resort, which follows Alabama 182 along the Gulf.
East Orange Beach, which comprises the backbay neighborhoods east of 161.
"We hope over a period of time we'll be able to go into each of the neighborhood areas that are identified ... here and do some more detailed work," Lawson said.
He noted the plan currently being developed for the Bear Point area. While the comprehensive plan says this area should remain predominantly developed with single-family homes, the neighborhood plan will specify details such as the width of sidewalks, the style of streetlights and the placement of parks.
ON THE NET
Orange Beach comprehensive plan:
www.cityoforangebeach.com/pdfs/community)development/comprehensive)plan/2006/comprehensive)plan)2006.pdf
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