While the initial battle started in Walton County thanks to HB 631, the fight has come to Destin over what parts of the beach are public and what is private. In a recent report from the Northwest Florida Daily News, Destin beach chair vendors have allegedly been harassing beachgoers who are trying to setup at the beach with the vendors sometimes misleading beachgoers as to their rights on the beach.
What makes matters worse is that even though disputes are being address with local law enforcement and the vendors eventually back off, there is no clear enforcement of the City’s code regarding beach chair vendors. According to the Daily News, city officials declined to answer questions from the paper regarding how often and how strictly they enforce their own code. To read more on the battle in Destin, click here.
Walton County prepares for the long battle
The OG in the battle of the beaches, Walton County prepares for a long fight ahead of them over customary use as it tries to regain its beaches from those who want it for themselves. According to the Walton Sun, on Saturday, September 8 at 9am, the Walton County Commissioners will hold a public hearing at which they are scheduled to give notice of their intent “to affirm the existence of recreational customary uses on beachfront property in Walton County, Florida.” The public hearing must be held before the county can take its argument for recreational customary use before a judge. To read more on Walton County’s battle and what info the governing board must provide, click here.
$21,000 GPS device to determine Erosion Control Line
With the fight over the beaches you might wonder, “How do they know where private beach ends and public beach begins?” In a recent article from the Northwest Florida Daily News, the Erosion Control Line is “determines” which half of the beach is public (restored using taxpayer funds) and which half is private (deeded and belonging to beachfront property owners). The Erosion Control line is invisible but the city uses a $21,000 GPS system known as “real time kinetic” to determine plots on the Erosion Control Line within a quarter of an inch. To read more on the process, click here.
New skate park for Walton County
A new skate park is in the works for Walton County at the Helen McCall Park with officials shooting for a Spring 2019 completion. According to the Northwest Florida Daily News, funding the construction has been an issue but now the county has about $100,000 set aside for the project, $60,000 coming from recreational plat fees, $30,000 from the Walton Skate Society and $10,000 from a Tony Hawk Foundation grant. To read more on the new skate park plan, click here.
The First Day of School
Today is the first day of school for kids in Okaloosa County. Aside from a flood of “first day of school pics” on Facebook and Instagram, pay attention to school zones both in the morning and afternoon! We’ve had a couple of months of not having to worry about this but getting caught speeding in a school zone is a ticket no one wants. Watch out for kids walking or riding their bikes to school and we hope everyone has a great start to the 2018-2019 school year!
That’s all we’ve got for today. Make sure you follow us on Facebook and the ‘gram over the weekend for other awesome shareable content! See ya tomorrow!