ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — The City Council will try again Tuesday night to approve an ordinance regulating the sale of T-shirts with “offensive, sexual and drug-related” messages on them.

This past Tuesday, the Orange Beach Council attempted to act quickly to put in some curbs on the shirts, but failed to gain unanimous consent to pass the law before the required two readings.

In its Monday work session, the Gulf Shores City Council discussed a similar ordinance and is working with Orange Beach to get some consistency in the two resort towns. Gulf Shores will again discuss the ordinance in Monday regular meeting.

“We are going to have to agree that we want to go to the advertising process to put it in place,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said. “It’s not like something we’re going to vote on and put in place Monday night but we will vote on whether or not we want to proceed with it and put it up for advertising.

“As we try to protect who we are and what we do there are certain things you have to do and this is one of them.”

Mayor Tony Kennon in Orange Beach wanted to immediately put the regulations in place to force the stores to put the offensive materials in a room for adults only. He favors placing the age limit at 21 for entry to see the merchandise.

Cities can suspend the rules to consider new laws before two public readings, but there must be unanimous consent from the council.

Councilwoman Joni Blalock cast the lone dissenting vote against considering the ordinance immediately.

“I voted no on unanimous consent because I did not feel I had all the information I needed to make a decision after just seven days,” Blalock said after the meeting. “I needed time to get all the facts before making a hasty decision and I feel the public needed more time to make their comments as well.

“That is why we have two readings on ordinances and it is a good, sound way to make decisions especially on controversial issues.”

Before the vote Mayor Tony Kennon asked her to reconsider on the T-shirt vote.

“That is something that should be in place now,” Kennon said. “We can always amend it, but it needs to be dealt with.”

The upcoming Tuesday meeting in Orange Beach is a work session, but following the work session a specially called regular session will commence to again consider passing the ordinance.

After the meeting Kennon said he had no problem with Blalock’s stance.

“I’m OK with that," he said. "I would’ve loved to move tonight but I respect her opinion and I respect her as a council person so she said moving it to next Tuesday night she would be fine by then.”

Blalock also was the lone dissenter on three other items the council wanted to suspend the rules on to consider early. They involved giving a liquor license to allow sales within 1,000 feet of a school provided the restaurant’s alcohol sales do not exceed 25 percent of the gross revenue of the business.

The other two issues concerned allowed expansion of motor coach houses at Terry Cove RV Resort and an ordinance to allow a heliport at The Wharf for a company wanting to conduct aerial tours.

Controversy erupted last week when Mayor Tony Kennon expressed his outrage after discovering the T-shirts for sale at Alvin’s Island and Surf Style souvenir shops on beach road in Orange Beach.

The shirts at Alvin’s Island also had “Orange Beach, Alabama” written across the bottom of them.

“I was outraged with nothing on it but the offensive material, but it took it to another level when they put the town on there that I represent as if we condone this,” Kennon said. “We have a brand. We are projected as family friendly and good clean fun.

“It’s destroying a brand we spent millions of dollars and a ton of effort to create and promote.”

Shaul Zislin, who owns several Surf Style shops in both cities, said he just wants the councils to be careful in their deliberations. He was present at both meetings but only spoke during the Gulf Shores sessions.

“We are with Surf Style and we feel we are a very family friendly organization,” Zislin said Monday. “Our concern is how do you set that line because what one may find offensive another one may not. Where do you set that line is going to be a tricky and complex exercise.”

Craft said there was no fine line between what should stay and what should go.

“In walking through a couple of the shops, yours and another one down there, there were things that obviously shouldn’t be out there,” Craft said to Zislin. “I don’t think any reasonable person would look at that and think it should be out there. That as a minimum needs to go behind closed doors.

“I believe what you say on the family-friendly stuff and I believe reasonable minds could get together.”

Craft also said he realizes the challenges of wording the ordinance just right to not raise “free speech” questions.

“We’re legally capable of doing that,” he said. “We can’t go too far with it. We’ve got to be specific, but I think we can do that.”