New Church Sanctuary Proposed Near Waterfront Park in Orange Beach
John Mullen • March 10, 2025
Lot combinations and new subdivisions under review

UPDATE: This Planning Commission has been cancelled. The Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting on March 10th at 4pm.
Orange Beach, Ala. –(OBA) – The Orange Beach Community Church will go before the planning commission to seek site plan approval to reconstruct a church sanctuary on the site where the Orange Beach First Baptist burned in 2017.
The new building will have 17,200 square and be located directly east of Waterfront Park. The council will meet on March 10 at 4 p.m. in council chambers at city hall.
During the meeting, the commission will also discuss:
- A request from Chris Huggler to combine two lots into one on property that has frontage on both Armadillo and Bear Point avenues.
- A request on behalf of Bailey Shivers and Roscoe Road Townhomes to approve the subdivision of seven acres into 60 lots near the intersection of Roscoe Road and the Foley Beach Express.
- A request from Jack and Caren Galetta to build a seven-lot single-family subdivision on Canal Road just west of Orange Beach Hardware. The Avenue C right of way extends across Canal at that point and the plan includes improvements to the right of way. This item was deferred from the February meeting and was submitted for this meeting but didn’t meet the second deadline for it to be considered.
- Loop Center Properties’ two requests are to combine five lots into one at 24621 and 24645 Perdido Beach Boulevard and then ask for site plan approval to build a mini-golf course. This item was submitted for the March meeting but didn’t meet the second deadline for it to be considered.
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