Orange Beach city officials raised concerns at their last committee of the whole meeting about a potential new Dollar General that could be built on 161.

The request from The Broadway Group would allow for conditional use approval to construct a 10,640 square foot Dollar General store at 4225 Orange Beach Blvd., near Rose Lane. This would be the fourth Dollar General in the city of Orange Beach.

The area is currently zoned Neighborhood Business (NB), so the request has to go before the planning commission and council.

“It is zoned neighborhood business and they would like to request the conditional use approval that is necessary for them to build the store on that corner,” Kit Alexander, engineering and environmental services director said. “Since it is a neighborhood business zone, it has to get that approval through planning commission and city council.”

Mayor Tony Kennon and several council members questioned whether the location was right for a business of that size.

“I’ve got a real problem with it,” Kennon said. “With the ingress and egress there and us trying to move traffic into two lanes and possibly have a bypass come through there, I just don’t know.”

Kennon said the city has worked to keep that area free from large impact development.

“We have always made sure that area has stayed a low density,” Kennon said. “We’ve turned down restaurants and other higher traffic things in the past because of those issues.”

Kennon said the potential for traffic problems was a large concern for him and that any left turns there would likely have to be eliminated.

Alexander said she expected a good deal of public feedback at the planning commission meeting.

“I believe we’re going to hear some response from the neighborhood at the Monday planning commission meeting, but they (the developers) requested that this be expedited,” Alexander said.

The Orange Beach Planning Commission will take up the matter at its May 8 work session and meeting beginning at 3 p.m. in the council chambers.