Organizers of the Hangout Festival asked the Gulf Shores City Council to expand the fenced-in beach area as they work to get a permit for the 2012 event.

Hangout owner Shaul Zislin is aiming for May 18-20 for the third annual festival held at the Gulf Shores Public Beach.

Mayor Robert Craft said some issues remain unresolved before the city can finalize the permit at the next council meeting.

“We are going to be looking at having a good exit plan on Monday with you closing off these streets because that was a problem last year,” Craft told Zislin in a work session. “We want to get that problem solved on the front end.

“Also, parking in the venue area. A strategy to have some control possibly on that (because) we had people sleeping in their cars, we had people sleeping on the beach. We can’t allow that to happen this year. I know those are going to be parts of this deal.”

Craft requested that all council members and department heads submit reports about their concerns with the Hangout Festival. He also requested Zislin touch base with officials in Orange Beach about their involvement with the festival.

“What I’d like to have … are amendments to this festival from last year that you’d like to see put in place so we can have next week a prepared process of having a discussion about how we vote on this permit and what restrictions we intend to put in place,” Craft said. “So if y’all will think about that and present it to me I’ll try to consolidate that so we can have an executive meeting next week.”

Councilman Jason Dyken says he doesn’t have a problem with expanding the festival’s area on the beach.

“Actually I don’t believe this increases the footprint of the festival,” he said. “That area is shut down for supporting services. So all we’re doing is increasing the fenced in area which when you squeeze 35,000 people into a larger area it makes for a safer environment for our police, for our fire and a better experience for the people attending the festival.”

Zislin also presented the council with a 30-page, color report studying demographics of festival attendees and interviewing business owners in the area for feedback following the 2011 event.

“Copies of this report are available, (at city hall)” Craft said. “Anybody that wants to come look at it is welcome to. You can read all the comments from the businesses and visitors, positive and negative, they’re all included.

The council also agreed Monday to take another look at a planning commission ruling on the rebuilding of a row of beach townhomes destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan.

There are 10 lots and homeowners in the development Our Point of View on East Beach Boulevard and some of the owners are ready to build back. Owners next door at Royal Palms condominiums are not against rebuilding, but want all 10 to be built at the same time.

Three or four of the owners are ready to rebuild, but the commission ruled all must be built at the same time. The council backed up that decision with a 3-2 vote.

“Mayor, I’ve been asked to make a motion to reconsider the conditional site plan appeal by Our Point of View at the next regular council meeting, Sept. 12,” Councilman Joe Garris said. “I’d like to make that motion to make sure we do due diligence in the project to make sure we’re OK. One way or the other.”

Since Garris cast a negative on the recommendation from the planning commission, he can ask the council for a reconsideration of the site plan ruling. The council agreed to reconsider on a 6-0 vote with Councilman Phillip Harris abstaining.

In other business, the council OK’d an application for the annual Coastal Cleanup which will be at the public beach on Sept. 17 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The council also awarded a contract for ICW Zoning Overlay District, approving a payment of $8,800 to Watkins, Acy, and Strunk Design for consultation services on the Intracoastal Waterway District master plan.