REAL ESTATE

66 unit townhome complex in Destin

On Monday night, the Destin City Council held a public hearing on the proposed 66 unit townhome complex along Palm Street and 98 Palms Boulevard.

• Jenkins Engineering, Inc., on behalf of Oldacre McDonald LLC, requested a Conditional Use approval for the complex. 
• The existing site is 5.59 acres. 

According to city documents, the proposed site is in the Town Center Mixed Use (TCMU) Zoning District. Long-term multi-family attached dwellings are listed as a Conditional Use in Town Center Mixed Use (TCMU) zoning district.

• “This is a review of the conditional use ONLY, and the site will be reviewed for full compliance with the City’s Codes at the time that the submitted Development Order and Subdivision has been reviewed by the Technical Review Committee (TRC),” according to documents.

Permitted uses within the TCMU zoning district include:

• Multi-family residential
• High density single family (not less than 7 units per acre)
• Retail
• Service
• Restaurant
• Office
• Commercial uses and civic uses 

As proposed, the project would have a density of ±14 units/acre.

Vehicular access to the property will be provided by a two-way drive from both 98 Palms Blvd and Palm St public Right-of-Ways (ROW), which link to internal streets within the development. 

The City of Destin estimates that there are ±5 multifamily complexes throughout the City within the TCMU zoning district.

After some long discussion, a motion to approve the conditional use was passed but not before adding in that a traffic study needed to be complete, and no short-term rentals be allowed.

Keep in mind that this does not mean that construction will begin. The developer will still have to present their project to council and get approval for a Major Development Order.

OKALOOSA

New pedestrian-activated lights being installed

Good news for Okaloosa Island!

New pedestrian-activated lights are being installed at the 7 crosswalks on Okaloosa Island.

• The work is expected to be complete by the end of the week.
• Motorists are required to stop and allow pedestrians to cross at these locations, even if the lights are not on.

These new solar-powered signs were approved back in August and are funded with infrastructure surtax dollars ($200,000). Read more on this tax.

Previously, crosswalk improvements did take place before the 2020 tourist season. However, the 2021 tourist season traffic “underscored the need to enhance safety at the beach park access crossings,” according to Jason Autrey, Public Works Director for the county.  

“We’ve had a substantial number of complaints from citizens because the pedestrians are trying to use the crosswalks and they say that drivers just don’t pay attention to them,” said Autrey on Tuesday morning. “The hope is that this will improve driver awareness to when somebody is entering into the crosswalk, which in the State of Florida, by law, you are to stop when the pedestrian enters into the crosswalk.”

The solar-powered pedestrian-activated crosswalk systems are said to heighten driver awareness by providing a real-time warning when pedestrians are in or about to enter a crosswalk. 

SUMMER SEASON

City of Destin rolls out new plan for livery vessels that fail to register before season deadline

At the January 18th city council meeting, Council-member Kevin Schmidt requested an update on the status of the livery vessel (rentals) registrations.

As of February 7th, there are 18 livery companies operating in the City of Destin. Here’s a breakdown of the current standings:

• 6 livery companies have been approved
• 4 livery companies have uploaded documents and are in review
• 7 livery companies have no uploaded all of the required documents
• 1 livery company cannot operate until completion of Development Order and is approved

According to the City of Destin, the 18 businesses collectively have 480 vessels. However, only 255 of the vessels have been registered so far for 2022.

Registration for livery vessel operations in the City of Destin is only open from November 1st until the last day of February each year. According to city documents, the city’s Code Compliance Department sent out renewal letters to businesses on:

• November 1, 2021
• December 8, 2021
• January 18, 2022

The renewal letter states that “to obtain the greatest efficiency in the processing and approval of your application, please register your livery vessel companies in a timely manner and do not wait until the last minute as this can cause a delay in approval of the requested registration.”

• If a delay happens, and the city cannot approve the application before March 1, the livery business may not be allowed to operate for the calendar year 2022.

Here’s the plan if deadline isn’t met 👇

On March 1, 2022, a Notice of Violation will be hand delivered (and mailed) to livery operators who failed to meet the registration application deadline. The business owner will have 24 hours to submit their application. 

• City staff will then have up to 5 business days to review the application and advise violator as to the status of their application. 
• This means that by March 7, the city should have all of the applications from livery operations.

The Notice of Violation will explain that if information is missing from the application, the business will have “x” day(s) to provide the information to complete the application.

Liveries will not be allowed to operate without a registration. According to the city, if compliance is not met (meaning a complete application has been submitted), a livery operation could lose their status to operate during the moratorium.

The plan passed 7-0.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Fort Walton Beach Police Department releases 2021 Year in Review

Last week, the FWBPD released their 2021 Year in Review.

“Throughout 2021, the Fort Walton Beach Police Department continued its commitment to the success of the community,” said FWBPD Chief Robert Bage. “It was a unique year with the continuation of COVID 19 as well as all of the variants, and continued demands for police reform.”

According to Bage, the department’s professionalism and dedication to the community, combined with great teamwork, played an essential role in accomplishing the mission of making the community safer.

The department had a list of major accomplishments that included everything from new grants to community events to water rescues.

For 2022, here is a rundown of their major projects and initiatives:

• Continue partnering with local stakeholders, educating the public, and mentoring youth.
• Enhance the daily operations by providing state-of-the-art technology and practical training.
• Develop a validated Physical Abilities Test for all police officers.
• Develop crime tracking and prevention initiatives to reduce crime and the fear of crime.
• Recruit, hire, train, mentor, and retain the most qualified workforce.
• Focus on professionalism and respect throughout daily activities within the community and department.
• Complete the accreditation process.
• Identify and apply for grants from public and private sources to expand capacity and resources with minimalimpact on fiscal resources.
• Staffing and deployment analysis for efficient and effective policing across the City with an emphasis onreducing the fear of crime, traffic enforcement, and improved response times.
• Conducting a feasibility study for a new firing range and police training center.
• Strength partnerships with local law enforcement partners.

NOT SO FAST

Speed limit on Airport Road in Destin could be reduced to 30mph

On Monday night, the Destin City Council held a public hearing on the topic of reducing the speed limit on Airport Road, 98 Palms, and Azalea Street from 35mph to 30mph.

• Back on August 30, 2021, the City Council passed a motion to have staff bring back an ordinance that would lower the speed limit city-wide to 30mph unless otherwise posted.

For Airport Road, the roadway has been the topic of several safety concerns over the past few months, primarily centered around low-speed-vehicles and a “disproportionately” large number of traffic accidents around the bend near the Destin Executive Airport. 

According to the city, these traffic accidents have occurred at least partially because of vehicles traveling too fast on Airport Road and specifically, the bend and turn on Airport Road.

“A reduction of speed on Airport Road is in the public’s best interest to mitigate the traffic and pedestrian accidents and best protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare,” wrote the city.

98 Palms Boulevard & Azelea Drive also have traditional vehicles along with low-speed vehicles, in addition to pedestrians. Because of this, the city council determined that reducing the speed limit on these road was also in the public’s best interest. 

This was the first reading on the ordinance, and will go before council on February 22 for the final reading.