Less than four months after reopening the downtown waterfront park that took nearly a decade to permit and build, the Fort Walton Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to close out the final phase of the Landing renovation with a scaled-down scope and bring the project to an end.

• The council directed City Manager Jason Davis and staff to return with a concept for a handful of lower-cost improvements rather than the full Phase 4 design, which called for two new restrooms on opposite ends of the park, a splash pad, demolition of the existing restroom and underground utility work.

The scaled-down version would instead focus on converting some of the park’s golf cart parking spaces to regular vehicle parking, adding a loading zone for weekend events, remodeling the existing bathroom, repairing broken concrete, replacing damaged trash cans and relocating the east-side dumpster enclosure.

The motion, made by Councilman David Schmidt and seconded by Councilman Bryce Jeter, passed 6-0. Councilman Payne Walker was absent.

Davis: ‘I’m leery to add more’

Davis told the council he has been fielding complaints since the park reopened in April that there are too many golf cart parking spaces sitting empty while regular parking fills up during events.

“The complaints that I get fairly regularly when we have events there, the regular parking fills up pretty quickly,” Davis said. “The golf cart parking does not remotely even fill up.”

He said converting some of the closest golf cart spaces to car parking would help, and golf carts would still have dedicated spots. If those fill up, carts could park in regular spaces. But cars cannot park in golf cart spaces without a fine.

Davis also raised concerns about adding new facilities that would burden a parks maintenance team he said is already stretched thin. The city is simultaneously managing expansions at the Preston Hood Recreation Complex and Liza Jackson Park.

• “I’m leery to add more to the complement for the team that maintains the parks,” Davis said.

He said staff’s initial recommendation was a “tactical pause” on the full Phase 4 design until a new work order system could generate data to support staffing decisions. That system is expected to go live in March, and Davis said he would want at least nine months of data before re-evaluating, putting any potential revisit around 2028.

‘Never really finalized’

Public Works Director Daniel Payne told the council that the Phase 4 design has been a moving target through years of leadership changes at City Hall.

“We’ve had three or four city managers, and I think it’s all changed, and it’s never really finalized,” Payne said.

The Landing renovation project dates to at least 2017, when the city began working with the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to permit waterfront improvements. The Army Corps permit was held up in a historical review by the state of Florida and was not issued until May 2022, under then-City Manager Michael Beedie.

Phase 1 construction began in June 2023 under City Manager Jeff Peters, with Fort Walton Beach-based GLC Contracting Inc. handling the work. The project was built in three phases, delivering a reinforced 700-foot seawall, a concrete boardwalk along Santa Rosa Sound, a circular performance stage with amphitheater seating, a fishing pier, a kayak and paddleboard launch, terraced waterfront seating and new lighting throughout the park.

The roughly $8 million renovation was funded through a combination of Natural Resource Damage Assessment grants, RESTORE Act funds, Okaloosa County Tourist Development Tax revenues, the county’s Half-Cent Surtax and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, with no impact to the city’s general fund.

The park reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 24.

Closure, not a pause

While Davis pitched a pause, Schmidt pushed for something more definitive. His motion called for staff to bring back a final Phase 4 concept that, once completed, would mark the end of the Landing renovation project.

“Let’s get some closure to when the Landing’s done,” Schmidt said. “And if future councils want to, depending on how the economic situation is, and bring splash pads, and bring more bathrooms, and bring all the things, let them evaluate that then.”

Mayor Nic Allegretto said closing out Phase 4 would not prevent future improvements.

“If somebody wanted to put a splash pad in 2030 or 2029, it doesn’t change that with this motion,” Allegretto said.

Jeter said he supported the move but pressed for clarity on what happens to CRA funds that had been set aside for Phase 4. Finance Director Nicole Nabors said the CRA fund balance sits at roughly $4 million, with about $2 million allocated toward other projects including Liza Jackson Park. That leaves approximately $2 million unallocated but restricted to CRA-eligible uses.

According to the city manager’s agenda memo, neighboring residents have also expressed a desire to move on, with some telling staff the park “finally opened” and asking the city not to start another major phased project.