The city of Gulf Shores is one step closer to a planned roadway connecting County Road 10 to Waterway West.

The city and Legendary Marine have entered into an agreement that will grant the city over 170 acres. To receive the land, the city has agreed to vacate 6.12 acres of public right of way in the former Bon Secour Village Town Center.

Legendary Marine has plans to develop the former Bon Secour Village Town Center site into a marine facility. The plans include a 750-space dry boat storage facility, boat sales and service, 45-slip marina, restaurant, clubhouse and an area of future mixed-use development.

The PUD amendment for the project was approved with a condition to vacate or relocate all the public rights of way within the development before building permit application. The appraisal determined the value of the 6.12 acres of right of way at $814,000.

“How the process works is they give us an appraised value of the land area of the right of ways to be vacated. It is called ‘pay a vacation fee’ but their vacation fee in this instance is a donation of land. The value of that land donation is $813,000,” City Planner Andy Bauer said.

In exchange for the vacation of the 6.12 acres, the city will receive:

• 32-acre right of way dedication north of the future Legendary Marine Development. This property represents a quarter-mile segment of the southernmost section of the Major Street Plan’s two-lane roadway from Waterway West to County Road 10. This roadway is for future development.
• 28 acres of wetlands.
• 43 acres of uplands that represent an additional quarter mile segment of the Major Street plan’s two-lane roadway from Waterway West to County Road 10. This segment will connect West 36^th Avenue to Stafford Blvd. within the Aventura subdivision.

The 169 acres of wetlands are adjacent to the Bon Secour wetland mitigation bank. Bauer explained that Baldwin County and the city of Gulf Shores have over 1,300 acres of wetlands in the Bon Secour area. There are also over 450 acres of wetlands on the south side of the Intracoastal Waterway around Oyster Bay.

Mayor Robert Craft said, “We are deeply focused on some level of growth management so preventing any mitigation opportunities while protecting pristine environmental areas is a win-win.”

During the regular session, the council:

• Approved a public assembly permit for the annual Snowball Drop and holiday celebration at Sims Park Dec. 3.
• Approved a public assembly permit for the Santa ride through the city Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.
• Passed a resolution accepting the bid of Semco S.E., Inc. for Erie Meyer Civic Center parking lot lighting in an amount not to exceed $70,400.
• Passed a resolution approving and authorizing a cooperative maintenance agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for a new 140-foot long and six-foot wide sidewalk along the east rights of way of Highway 59 between Blue Moose Car Wash and William Street.