Orange Beach Panel Weighs Margaritaville Rezoning and a Public Rooftop at the AC Hotel

The resort taking shape under the Margaritaville name at The Wharf returns to the Orange Beach Planning Commission on Monday, July 13 — this time for a rezoning that would settle the zoning for its amenity district, the shared recreational and common areas tied to a resort. It is one of a half-dozen items on a hearing docket that also carries a contested change at the AC Hotel by Marriott and the adoption of a new citywide growth plan the city has held building moratoriums in place to finish.

The commission meets at 4 p.m. in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, 4099 Orange Beach Boulevard. Six public-hearing items are listed, though one was withdrawn last month, leaving five. On the rezonings the commission only recommends; the City Council casts the binding vote.

Margaritaville amenity district at The Wharf

Agenda excerpt, Jul 13 meeting, page 2.

Case No. 0703-PUD-26 would rezone 7.8 acres — Lot 2 of The Wharf Landing Phase 4 Subdivision, at 23150 Margaritaville Way — from General Business to a Planned Unit Development, a custom zoning category that writes the rules around one specific project. The agenda ties the change to "the previously approved Amenity District of The Margaritaville Resort," so the amenity space itself has already cleared an earlier approval; Monday's request, from Sawgrass Consulting LLC on behalf of Wharf Landing LLC, would bring the land's underlying zoning in line with that use.

The request asks the commission to recommend that the City Council grant preliminary and final PUD approval together — collapsing what are normally two separate votes into one. The agenda doesn't spell out what the district includes or attach a site plan.

AC Hotel: a rooftop lounge that would open to the public

Case No. 0704-PUDA-26 asks the commission to approve a major modification to the AC Hotel by Marriott's approved development plan — in the city's terms, a change big enough to require the commission's sign-off. The hotel, a conversion of an existing building into 100 rooms on 1.8 beachfront acres at 23370 Perdido Beach Boulevard, won the commission's recommendation only in November 2025. The filing, from AR& Development Company LLC, lists four changes: put all parking on-site, for 160 spaces; drop a previously approved off-site parking area; move some rooms up to the rooftop level; and open the rooftop lounge to the public.

That last change reaches back to the one point of friction in the hotel's original approval. When the project came before the commission in November, the rooftop bar drew the meeting's only public objection — a neighbor to the west worried about noise carrying to nearby bedrooms and trash landing on his property. The applicant told the panel the lounge would serve before- and after-dinner drinks for hotel guests, with no live music, a wall along the property line and 24-hour security, and would not be a party spot. The hotel won its recommendation on a 7-2 vote. The modification now on the table would open that same rooftop to the general public.

Because it is a modification rather than a rezoning, the agenda lists this item as a request for the commission's own approval, not a recommendation sent up to the council.

A growth plan — and the moratoriums behind it

Item H.6 is a public hearing on adopting a new Comprehensive Plan for Orange Beach — the long-range blueprint that steers land use, zoning, infrastructure and growth. It caps a year-long update the city has tied directly to development limits: Orange Beach extended its building moratoriums in November 2025 to buy time to finish the plan.

The update, led by planning consultant Philip Walker of The Walker Collaborative, drew wide public input for a city this size. A survey open from September to December 2025 collected 843 responses — about 10.2% of the population, by 2024 census figures — followed by public meetings and a January workshop. The top priorities that emerged, Walker has said, included protecting the environment, adding community and cultural amenities, more housing, better transportation and connectivity, and a firmer hand on future development.

The city has not posted the plan document itself online; the only comprehensive-plan document on its website is the older 2020–2035 version. So the full text won't be public until it turns up in the meeting packet or at the hearing — residents who want to review it beforehand can check with the city's Community Development department.

Also on the agenda

Two subdivision cases fill out the docket. Case No. 0701-SD-26 would split 42 acres bordered by Bradford Road, Foley Beach Express, Brown Lane and Roscoe Road into two lots for MG4 Coastal Cottages LLC. Case No. 0702-SD-26 would combine three lots in the Walker Estate Subdivision, at 28720 Canal Road, into one for Craig and Dianne Ratkey.

The item that had topped the agenda — the Pirates Voyage PUD, which sought to rezone more than 24 acres at 4224 Orange Beach Boulevard for a project anchored by a 59,000-square-foot dinner theater — was withdrawn June 17 and won't be heard.

Before the hearings, the commission takes up minutes from its June 8 work session and regular meeting. The meeting is open to the public, with a chance to comment on each item.