GULF SHORES, Ala. – There may or may not be a Bob Marley-themed restaurant coming to Orange Beach, but it won’t be in the location first proposed on Alabama 182 near Gulf State Park.

But that doesn’t mean a restaurant won’t be coming to the site where developer Mark Goldstein wants to build a restaurant, Ron Jon Surf Shop and a 150-room hotel.

Restaurateur Eddie Spence, who co-owns more than a dozen restaurants, decided against the site for the Marley restaurant, but says he is still looking at sites in Orange Beach as well as Gulf Shores.

One report said a possible site is in the area of LuLu’s on the Intracoastal Waterway. Gulf Shores is trying foster an entertainment and shopping district in that area. Spence said he couldn’t comment on prospective sites.

“We’re working on it diligently,” he said. “We’ve got another meeting (Wednesday) and one on Monday. We’re going to close in here in the next week on where we are going to go, hopefully.”

Spence said the noise concerns voiced by area residents gave him second thoughts about the first proposed site.

“We didn’t want to have to be hassled by people every time a little noise came out of the place,” Spence said. “We didn’t get a ‘warm fuzzy.’ Some of the city council people we felt good about. Some of the remarks made by some of them just didn’t make us feel welcome.

“I felt like the mayor was more on the state of Alabama’s side more than he was on our side.”

Mayor Tony Kennon said the state park and the Department Conservation and Natural Resources are important partners with the city.

“The state and that state park campground is our neighbor and we have to take into consideration anything that might affect them,” Kennon said. “I’m on the side of what makes the most sense for any project. What bothers me is, my role as an elected official is to protect everybody’s interest and they absolutely refused to work with anybody to try to find a compromise.”

Kennon said the city was trying to be as helpful as possible.

“What Mr. Spence needs to understand is that there are zoning and planning laws and processes that have to be followed,” Kennon said. “We worked hard with them. They did a daytime noise test, which didn’t tell us anything and we asked for a noise test at night, but they canceled it.”

Kennon also pointed out that the proposed area is zoned for neighborhoods and any businesses there must respect the integrity of what is already in place.

“This area is zoned for single-family residences,” Kennon said. “In the past we have perhaps rubber-stamped some things and caused problems that we had no solutions for. We were trying to avoid that type of situation again.

“We want new businesses and we want development, but not at the expense of our quality of life. This is still a small town in many respects.”

Councilman Jeff Silvers liked the Marley idea, but wanted the noise concerns addressed. Canceling the night noise test didn’t help the effort to get the restaurant.

“We told them there was one other thing to do and that was the night sound test,” he said. “We thought that would happen last week but we never did get notification. That was a very important key to the plans.”

Goldstein, who owns and wants to develop the property, wants the council to still consider a restaurant in the project. The architect on the project, Forrest Daniell, wrote a letter to the city saying a restaurant venue will be redesigned and resubmitted.

He submitted those plans Friday with the tower and stage removed and windows and doors added to enclose the facility.

“Mark Goldstein is talking to several other themed restaurant companies that have expressed a great deal of interest in the site,” the letter said. “Although we do not know which restaurant will be selected, we do know that it will not have an outdoor stage with live music, and it will be enclosed and air conditioned.

“The restaurant will still have a fenced-in activity area for kids, as well as outdoor decks with seating. The Polynesian architectural style will remain for now, but that theme may change depending on the theme of the restaurant that is chosen.”

Kit Alexander, Director of Engineering and Environmental Services for Orange Beach, said the council could consider the new proposal as early as tonight.

“If they feel like they have enough information, that they feel comfortable voting, they can do one of two things,” Alexander said. “They can either vote on it or they can table it if they need additional info.”