The Destin City Council unanimously voted Monday night to table a proposed involuntary annexation of approximately 2,076 acres of unincorporated land after a packed public hearing drew sharp opposition from residents of the affected neighborhoods.

• The ordinance, 26-20-LC, would have annexed all unincorporated land lying east and south of Choctawhatchee Bay in Okaloosa County, extending to the Walton County line.

The area, located north of Emerald Coast Parkway, includes the Regatta Bay, Kelly Plantation, Diamond Lakes and Indian Lakes subdivisions, as well as Destin Commons, which has more than 80 shops and restaurants across roughly 650,000 square feet of building area. According to the city’s feasibility study, the area has a population of 4,486, contains 2,436 residential properties and is home to 431 business-related addresses.

The annexation was proposed under Section 171.0413 of Florida Statutes, which allows municipalities to annex contiguous unincorporated territory by ordinance without a voluntary petition from property owners. Under the statute, the annexation would have ultimately required approval through a referendum vote of the residents being annexed.

Before opening the floor to public comment, Mayor Bobby Wagner left the dais to address the crowd directly, acknowledging the proposal’s unpopularity and asking for more time to engage with the affected communities.

• “The last thing that I wanted was to rush something, push something through, and try to do what every other government that it seems like in America does, which is try to pull a fast one on the taxpayers,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the idea behind the annexation was to explore whether a combined city could leverage government tools and grant funding that individual homeowners associations and unincorporated communities cannot access on their own. He asked the council to push the matter to the 2028 election cycle to allow time for outreach and relationship-building with the neighborhoods.

“I would never ask for a penny without thinking that we could give you dollars in exchange,” Wagner said.

Before public comment began, unincorporated resident Mike Weger of Indian Lake Subdivision asked whether the council could share where they stood on the proposal before speakers took the podium, so residents could gauge the outcome before sitting through a lengthy public comment period. City Attorney Kimberly Kopp said the council could share their feelings before the required public hearing.

Councilwoman Teresa Hebert said she agreed with Wagner’s two-year timeline but acknowledged residents had made their position clear, noting they chose to buy in unincorporated areas intentionally.

Councilman Chatham Morgan, who was appointed to the council about three months ago, was more direct. “I wouldn’t support it tonight. I don’t think I would support it in two years,” Morgan said.

Councilman Dewey Destin cautioned against setting an arbitrary two-year timeline, noting any four council members could bring the issue back at any time and that state law prohibits one council from binding a future council’s decisions. Councilwoman Sandy Trammell sided with Destin, noting the city had attempted a similar annexation years ago with the same result.

Trammell also pointed to the practical challenges the city faces at its current population of roughly 14,000. “Every time we go for a grant, we only have 14,000 people in our city,” Trammell said. “We’re chopped up all over the place.”

Charles Rigdon, a 28-year Kelly Plantation resident and president of the Kelly Plantation Owners Association, told the council his community has no interest in annexation.

“Our residents chose Kelly Plantation precisely because of the privacy, the high standards, and the community control that our HOA delivers,” Rigdon said. “For many of our homeowners, this would translate into hundreds, and in most cases, thousands of additional dollars in annual property taxes with no clear improvement in services they already receive or fund privately.”

• Rigdon said no one from the city had contacted the Kelly Plantation HOA to discuss annexation or explain potential benefits before the matter advanced to a public hearing. Wagner pushed back on that point, saying he had emailed Rigdon in February 2024 and was told Rigdon did not want to meet.

Duane Eliason, a board member at Diamond Lake, said his primary concern was how annexation would affect residents on fixed incomes already paying HOA fees. “What we have to try to figure out is how, if you annex us, what can you offer to help us lower those HOAs to help offset some of those Destin taxes that we’re gonna have to end up paying?” Eliason said.

Regatta Bay resident Nancy Brooke asked City Attorney Kimberly Kopp to explain the term “involuntary annexation.” Kopp said the statute uses the term to distinguish the process from a voluntary petition by property owners, but noted the annexation would still require a majority vote of the people being annexed through a referendum. Because the city proposed annexing all 2,076 acres as a single block, the entire area would have voted as one group rather than neighborhood by neighborhood, Kopp said.

Trammell ultimately made the motion to table the ordinance. Destin seconded, and the vote was unanimous.

Kopp clarified that with the ordinance tabled, city staff would not continue any work on the annexation unless the council specifically directed the city manager to do so. Wagner said he would pursue what he called a “listening campaign” in a personal capacity, separate from any official city action.

According to the city’s agenda report, the proposed annexation was intended to establish a more efficient municipal boundary, eliminate fragmented governmental jurisdiction and improve coordination of land use planning and infrastructure investment. The city’s character study was completed in December 2025, and the feasibility study was filed with the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners on June 2, 2026. 

The annexation had been on track for a referendum vote in November.