LOXLEY, Alabama – After nearly 20 years without an increase, the town of Loxley is looking to more than double the lodging tax it collects.

The Loxley Town Council voted at its meeting Monday night to hold a public hearing at the Council’s Jan. 14 meeting to consider increasing the tax from 3 percent to 8 percent.

Ordinance No. 2012-31 was introduced at Monday’s council meeting and calls for an amendment to Ordinance No. 437, which was adopted by the town Oct. 10, 1994.

The tax will be levied “upon every person engaged or continuing in this town in the business of renting or furnishing any room or rooms, lodging or accommodations to transients in any hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin or any other place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are regularly furnished to transients,” according to the ordinance.

Under the provisions of the ordinance the tax will not apply to lodgings or accommodations supplied for a period of 30 continuous days or more.

In October and November, the first two months of the 2012-13 fiscal year, the town has collected $5,400 with the 3 percent lodging tax. Averaged out that comes to more than $32,000 for the coming year under the current rate.

Increasing the rate to 8 percent will effectively more than double what the town brings in with the lodging tax, said Mayor Billy Middleton.

In other business Monday, the Council approved Resolution No. 2012-32, entering into an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for the widening and resurfacing of U.S. Highway 90 from Highway 181 to Highway 59.

The Resolution states that the town agrees to the terms of the project, will help in rerouting traffic while the project is completed and also agrees to maintain their portion of the roadway once the project is completed.

The Council also approved a pair of ordinances at Monday’s meeting rezoning the Sonebridge Planned Unit Development and the Loxley Triangle Planned Unit Development.

In August, the council approved a pair of amendments to the town’s zoning ordinance, effectively splitting a planned unit development approved by the town six years ago.

In May of 2006 the Loxley Town Council approved the Golden Triangle PUD, an undeveloped property of just under 4,000 acres, located north of Interstate 10, bound on the west by U.S. Highway 31 and on the east by Alabama 59.

Zoned as a planned unit development, the property could be developed as residential, commercial or light industrial, said Shawn Alves with Stone, Grenade and Crosby, which provides legal representation for the town.

But the property was never developed and was eventually sold and split in two, the southern half to Fish River LLC, which includes just under 2,500 acres and the northern half as Fortuna Investments LLC, representing Loxley Triangle LLC.

Fish River LLC also presented an additional 426 acres for inclusion in Monday’s amendment to their PUD.

The amendments also included minor changes which reflect changes to the ordinance since the original PUD was passed in 2006, Alves said.

In other business Monday, the Council:

• Approved the closing off of Highway 59 from the Loxley Church of God to the Loxley Municipal Park beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 21 for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March.
• Appointed Brandon Hargraves and Troy Herring to the town’s Planning Commission.
• Tabled action to award bids for gas and diesel purchase by the town in order to re-bid the project using regular unleaded gasoline instead of super unleaded. The move could effectively save the town about 28 cents per gallon, Middleton said.
• Received a petition from the residents of Timber Ridge subdivision to resurface streets and make improvements to road surfaces within the subdivision. The petition was presented by resident Dr. Robert Hughes and was signed by all 39 property owners in the subdivision.
• Voted to place a stop sign at the corner of First Avenue and Grimes Lane near the Loxley First Baptist Church and Daycare Center.