The City of Gulf Shores unanimously approved amendments to its parking ordinance, impacting parking requirements for developments in the Waterway Village district.

Waterway Village is located adjacent to where the upcoming pedestrian bridge is being built. Businesses in the area currently can use the city parking lot under the W.C. Holmes Bridge on East Gulf Avenue to count off the required parking spaces for building permits.

Gulf Shores Planning Director Scott Stephens said at the Sept. 22 city council meeting where the amendments were approved, the amendment does not necessarily add city parking to the area.

However, he said the city is looking at adding parking along East Second Street and the area of the pedestrian bridge construction site.

As previously reported by GCM, one of the amendments to the parking ordinance extends this area from 750 feet within the city parking lot to 1,320 feet, about a quarter of a mile, from the city parking lot. This will allow more businesses, even some across the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), to use city parking in their building plans rather than requiring large parking lots to be constructed.

"This ordinance is really about changing how and where parking can be counted for new and existing developments," Stephens said at the Sept. 22 meeting.

Another amendment is to allow on-street parking adjacent to new businesses. Another is to specify that revenue collected from parking credits, or spaces in the city lot, goes to a city fund used for land acquisition, design, engineering services and construction, but not maintenance, of new parking areas.

Stephens previously said at the Aug. 19 work session that parking credits are purchased when a business wishes to use city parking in their site parking plans. However, just because a parking credit is purchased from the city lot does not mean the space is reserved for customers of that business.

"You can't go put your name on the on-street parking or within the city's parking lot," he said.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft previously said on the amendments, "I think it's going to take a lot of oversight. We're not making any more land so all we've got is all we've got."

A parking study by Kimley-Horn is currently underway for the Waterway Village district focused on where wayfinding and informational signs are needed for city parking. It will also be tracking how much parking is used by different businesses in the district.

The Sept. 22 council meeting was a public hearing, allowing residents to share thoughts or concerns about the amendments to the parking ordinance. No one spoke from the audience, so council voted to suspend the rules to allow for immediate consideration of the amendments.

A public input survey, which closed Sept. 30, was conducted as part of the study. The study is set to conclude later in October or November.