The Fort Walton Beach City Council voted 4-3 on Tuesday to delay a decision on an ordinance that would allow home-based cottage food businesses to sell from outdoor carts and stands, pushing the matter to Oct. 13 and suspending code enforcement on existing stands in the meantime.

• Councilman Bryce Jeter made the motion to postpone the second and final reading of Ordinance 2227, and Councilman David Schmidt seconded it. Councilmen Logan Browning and Gloria DeBerry also voted in favor. Councilman Payne Walker, Councilman Ben Merrell and Councilwoman Debi Riley voted against the delay, saying the ordinance had been studied long enough and should be adopted.

The council had approved the ordinance on first reading 5-1 on Aug. 11.

Jeter said his concern centered on SB-180, a state law that bars cities in hurricane-affected counties from adopting more restrictive land development regulations through at least October 2027. He said that once the ordinance passed, the council could not tighten any of its provisions, including the hours, setbacks and parking requirements, while SB-180 remains in effect.

“If we make the wrong changes on this, and we can’t go back and fix it, so it’s just the slipperiest of slipperiest slopes I’ve touched since I’ve been up here in three years,” Jeter said.

Jeter said he had only learned about cottage food laws two weeks before the first reading and wanted more time to hear from the community. He pledged not to seek another delay.

• “I promise you 45 days from now, I will not postpone it 45 days, and I will not support someone else doing it,” Jeter said. “45 days from now, I’ll have the data to give.”

City Manager Jason Davis asked Jeter what data he wanted staff to track. Jeter said he was not asking staff to collect anything, but rather wanted to see how the stands operated without enforcement and let the community weigh in.

“I think the data will come to us,” Jeter said.

Growth Management Director Tim Gibson told the council that staff had received no public comment on the proposed language since the first reading. He reiterated that under state law, the city cannot ban cottage food businesses from operating, but it can regulate whether stands are allowed outside and under what conditions.

City Attorney Jeff Burns noted that since the first reading, Santa Rosa County had banned cottage food carts outright, though it cannot prohibit the businesses themselves. Burns also clarified that the ordinance only restricts when the cart can be outside; cottage food operators can still sell from inside their homes at any hour without restriction.

• “The ordinance only restricts the cart times,” Burns said. “Someone could still be selling cottage food 24/7, 365, with no restriction.”

Burns said SB-180 expires in August 2027 if no local hurricane triggers an extension, at which point the council would regain the ability to make the rules more restrictive.

The city’s ordinance, if adopted, would let cottage food businesses operating under Florida Statute 500.80 place one cart or stand outside the home, limited to 20 square feet and 8 feet tall. It would restrict stand operations to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., require the stand to be stored out of sight outside those hours, set it back at least 15 feet from the property line, and require two off-street parking spaces on a stabilized surface. Operators would need city approval before starting.

Police Chief Robert Bage said the original 45-day enforcement pause staff had issued was expiring, and asked for direction. Jeter’s motion included a continuation of the pause through the postponement period.

Several cottage food operators urged the council to pass the ordinance.

Anne Marie Wilkerson, who operates Lily’s Little Shop, urged the council not to wait. “To postpone this would mean, oh, guess what, everything that we’re in the process of baking, we’re just gonna have to hold off on it,” she said. Wilkerson said the income helps her pay medical bills and called the business her lifeline.

Ben Taylor, who operates Shortstop Sweets with his wife Jenny, offered the most detailed public testimony, drawing on weeks of research into Florida statutes. Taylor commended the city for acting quickly but raised concerns about two provisions. He said he could not find anything in Chapters 500.80 or 559.955 that authorizes a city to set hours of operation specific to cottage food businesses or to impose parking requirements on cottage food operators that are stricter than those applied to other home-based businesses.

“When you start putting things in the books that are specific to cottage bakers and addressing cottage bakers, that kind of puts us into the 500.80 territory, which is the state’s territory,” Taylor said.

• Taylor also noted that other cities in the region have handled the issue differently. He said a cottage food operator in Valparaiso challenged the city using state statutes and was allowed to continue without restrictions, and that a stand owner in Crestview was granted permission on the grounds that the operation was essentially a garage sale.

Jenny Taylor told the council she had emailed code enforcement on July 23 seeking guidance, and that two officers came to her home that same day to let them know they were cleared to continue operating during the 45-day pause. “They wanted us to be the first to know because they thought we were the only ones doing the right thing,” she said.

Kyle Henderson of Austin’s Cookies asked Jeter directly about the reasoning for the delay. Jeter told him it was not about opposing the businesses but about the permanence of the decision under SB-180.

“I’ve heard from a lot of people in the community, just so you know, have told me that same thing: ‘What are these things? I’m still learning. Why are y’all making this ordinance?'” Jeter said. “So we may learn some of it’s good, some of it’s bad.”

Maria Coates, owner of Butterprint Bakery, said she had invested in equipment and legal paperwork but was holding off on opening until the ordinance was resolved. “I was hoping for a resolution tonight,” she said.

Walker said he opposed the postponement, noting the council had the benefit of a 45-day enforcement pause to study the issue and that the ordinance had already been reviewed by staff and the Local Planning Agency. “I’m not sure exactly what it is that you’re looking for that you might make it better,” Walker said.

• Riley agreed. “If you’ve done all the research, the data, why do we need more time?” she said. “I don’t understand that.”

Merrell said he was torn. He said he was ready to pass the ordinance but saw value in refining it, particularly the two-parking-space requirement, which he said could prevent some operators from qualifying.

“I’m torn because everyone can still operate,” Merrell said. “I’m ready to pass it, but one of the things I thought, somebody doesn’t have two parking spaces, and so now they can’t bring their cart out.”

Mayor Nic Allegretto said the delay should not be interpreted as the city shutting anyone down. “Nobody that’s running one of these businesses is being put out by the city of Fort Walton Beach if this is not passed tonight,” Allegretto said. “They’re still operating the business. They can sell out of their house 24/7.”

The council is set to take up the ordinance again at its Oct. 13 meeting.