ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The city of Orange Beach is studying an ordinance to take advantage of a new state law allowing entertainment districts in the city.

At a work session on Tuesday the council discussed possibly setting up two of the districts as soon as possible to give them a trial run through the summer.

“Since this is so new I think the idea was to create an ordinance and provide that the district designation would be put on a trial basis for 90 days,” City Attorney Wanda Cochran said. “The council would see how it would work, identify any potential problems you can’t anticipate in advance and at the end of the 90 days review the district, tweak the ordinance and do whatever you need to do.”

According to Cochran, the law passed by the Alabama legislature in May allows cities to create the districts in areas where there are at least four businesses with liquor licenses within a half-mile square.

“It allows patrons at bars and restaurants within that district to leave the premises with open containers of alcoholic beverages and go to other businesses within the district,” Cochran said. “For cities the size of Orange Beach the city is authorized to create two districts.”

Coming immediately to mind is The Wharf at the intersection of Canal Road and the Foley Beach Express. General Manager Patti Link of San Roc Cay asked the council to include her complex as well.

Link said San Roc Cay and The Wharf are the only two areas in Orange Beach that meet the criteria of having at least four businesses with licenses to sell alcohol for on-premise consumption.

Next week the council will meet on Thursday because of the Fourth of July holiday weekend and hopes to pass the ordinance then. It can be passed on such short notice if the vote is unanimous, according to city officials.

“I think the 90 days is important because it is such a new thing,” Mayor Tony Kennon said. “If we are going to make use of this summer with it for The Wharf we need to get it in place.

“We could spend all summer researching entertainment districts and looking at all the potential what-ifs whereas this makes sense to me.”

After the 90 days the districts would basically expire and the city, Kennon said, could then study how it worked and what needs changed.

“At the end of 90 days we can call the police department, fire department, vendors, merchants and the owner and see what glitches, what issues were encountered,” Kennon said. “Then maybe we can go to through a yearlong (district). This is a way to get started.”

A lawyer for The Wharf, Ken Steely, pointed out The Wharf already has several special events a year where alcohol is sold and visitors are allowed to walk around with drinks.

“What this is going to allow The Wharf to do is not going through the extra expense of having to get these special licenses and having them basically become alcohol sellers,” Steely said. “What this is going to do is save on some of the expenses of getting these extra licenses and having to get the extra insurance for that limited time to go along with these licenses.”

Steely said with the district designation, there would be no need for alcohol vendors on the street.

“You won’t see alcohol sales on the sidewalks, you won’t see alcohol sales at little booths set up for that,” he said. “All this is going to do is allow licensed entities to allow patrons to leave.”