Deforestation of Walton County

Are there any meetings / venues to fight what’s happening and hopefully stop all of the development? I’ve spoken to several friends who are seeing panthers and we should not be seeing panthers. Who / how / why did another Walmart get put on 98? And why are all of these cheap, too fast building , clear cutting the lands happening? And the road across the intercostal waterway? Devastating.

The voting booth

Are there any meetings / venues to fight what’s happening and hopefully stop all of the development? I’ve spoken to several friends who are seeing panthers and we should not be seeing panthers. Who / how / why did another Walmart get put on 98? And why are all of these cheap, too fast building , clear cutting the lands happening? And the road across the intercostal waterway? Devastating.

You can go to all public meetings and workshops posted on here plus write to the BCC on issues to give your input if you can't attend.

The South Walton Community Council is active on matters of development. Although it seems that when the BCC got a majority of members as pro-development about 10 years ago they give developers whatever they want in most cases.

Walton County wants to develop every square inch, bureaucracies based on tax dollars often eat themselves and leave behind a concrete carcass. A citizen movement based on the environment instead of greed is what is needed. And perhap a city of Santa Rosa Beach with common sense controls.

The horrors of a grocery only Walmart…

Was in there the other day and it’s as well done as you can do a Walmart. Only groceries and a liquor store. Nice alternative to paying double for everything at Publix or have to drive 40 minutes east or west for the other Walmarts.

But I guess it’s too much. There should be 12 straight miles of totally vacant forest lining both sides of 98, not 11.5 miles as it is now.

The horrors of a grocery only Walmart…

Was in there the other day and it’s as well done as you can do a Walmart. Only groceries and a liquor store. Nice alternative to paying double for everything at Publix or have to drive 40 minutes east or west for the other Walmarts.

But I guess it’s too much. There should be 12 straight miles of totally vacant forest lining both sides of 98, not 11.5 miles as it is now.

Preservation is not a joke like you are trying to make it out. Enjoy your Walmart. I'm sure you are most comfortable there among your kind in your native habitat.

Preservation is not a joke like you are trying to make it out. Enjoy your Walmart. I'm sure you are most comfortable there among your kind in your native habitat.

Yes. Patiently waiting for the uproar over the 2 acres needed for a Whole Foods. It must be stopped! I can pick up matches for you so you have light in the evening.

It’s funny because coming here and seeing the wealth of conservation land and state parks, and the aesthetics of most of the development; something that spans pretty much the whole panhandle, and then hearing all these frantic people talking about overdevelopment is like going to a desert and hearing people worrying about not having enough sand. You want to politely tell them that they should actually be worried about water in a desert, not sand, but they’re petulant anyway. Then you just kind of shrug your shoulders, wonder why they choose to be so bitter, and then just get back to enjoying life.

It’s funny because coming here and seeing the wealth of conservation land and state parks, and the aesthetics of most of the development; something that spans pretty much the whole panhandle, and then hearing all these frantic people talking about overdevelopment is like going to a desert and hearing people worrying about not having enough sand. You want to politely tell them that they should actually be worried about water in a desert, not sand, but they’re petulant anyway. Then you just kind of shrug your shoulders, wonder why they choose to be so bitter, and then just get back to enjoying life.

The reason we have protected lands are because of people more caring and wiser than people like you who only see potential for development and dollars.

Realtor or sub contractor?

@UpNorth

No answer?

@UpNorth

No answer?

I don’t know what this means. I don’t need either.

The reason we have protected lands are because of people more caring and wiser than people like you who only see potential for development and dollars.

Unless you ban people from coming, you need to develop more. Tourism and especially migration make this a certainty. Walton County going from 95% farm/ag/conservation land to 90 or 85% over the next few decades isn’t some crisis.

As just pointed out, literally nothing is good enough for some of these people. You have 10+ miles of nothing but Pines on 98 and then a half mile stretch with some development and people are whining. Forget the fact that much of this is pines that were PLANTED for the purpose of being harvested LOL. Also forget the inane arrogance/entitlement/grift attitude that must be inherent in order to assume we all have dictatorial rights to demand what others do with their own private property.

And no, you have so much protected land in South Walton because a developer was irresponsible, went bankrupt, and the state bought it. Not cuz locals go rabid at every development order.

Unless you ban people from coming, you need to develop more. Tourism and especially migration make this a certainty. Walton County going from 95% farm/ag/conservation land to 90 or 85% over the next few decades isn’t some crisis.

As just pointed out, literally nothing is good enough for some of these people. You have 10+ miles of nothing but Pines on 98 and then a half mile stretch with some development and people are whining. Forget the fact that much of this is pines that were PLANTED for the purpose of being harvested LOL. Also forget the inane arrogance/entitlement/grift attitude that must be inherent in order to assume we all have dictatorial rights to demand what others do with their own private property.

And no, you have so much protected land in South Walton because a developer was irresponsible, went bankrupt, and the state bought it. Not cuz locals go rabid at every development order.

Almost every sentence is wrong. You are a troll and know nothing about SoWal history.

Sorry Dawn. You’re right. There’s been no land donated, no state land purchased, no nothing. Just like a commenter earlier in response to a comment about 2 lanes on each side of 98 no longer being appropriate, he just warps the convo into nitpicking about “you’re so dumb it’s 4 lanes not 2! Haha I know so much and you don’t”. Despite obviously knowing the point of the comment and reference to each side and relating traffic. You guys have your hearts set on whatever it is your biased towards and don’t care to bring detail or debate beyond that. It’s OK. At certain places which I won’t name the residents there joke about how the only people you want to hang out with in SoWal are other out of state migrants because the locals are just bitter because they won’t let go of their Red Neck Riviera. They refuse to accept and are angered by the fact that outsiders find the area beautiful and are coming here and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.

My last reply on this topic then I’ll let the echo chamber continue.

There’s very clear “development” and “undeveloped” areas. The vast majority of the remaining “undeveloped” in South Walton is owned by one entity who has been here for like 100 years. The Bay Walton Sector Plan very thoroughly lays out how much will be developed, how dense it will be, and how much is going to be put into conservation. That timeline is supposedly 50 years. Sometimes you take for granted what’s right in front of you. That whole saying about “the devil you know”….

And I just hope for all our sake, some larger entity, such as a DR Horton or some family office, doesn’t come in and throw a big number at them because then y’all will really see what greed, distasteful development, and all that look like. Until then you can keep crying about civilization encroaching upon your lives. I’ll waive to you guys protesting on the Porsche dealership lot tomorrow, ok?

I mean the answer to all of this is simple and quite American isn’t it? If you guys are so adamant about what others should be doing with their property, nothing is stopping y’all from offering to buy this land and then out of the goodness of your hearts donating it for conservation? What’s stopping you? But my gut says it’s more convenient to just lecture from your positions at the Give Us Your Land Charity Foundation.

@UpNorth there is a project in the works that will allow you to donate the development rights and get a certificate stating as such.

The horrors of a grocery only Walmart…

Was in there the other day and it’s as well done as you can do a Walmart. Only groceries and a liquor store. Nice alternative to paying double for everything at Publix or have to drive 40 minutes east or west for the other Walmarts.

But I guess it’s too much. There should be 12 straight miles of totally vacant forest lining both sides of 98, not 11.5 miles as it is now.

Local heads will explode now that ALDI has closed on the Wynn-Dixie purchase.

Local heads will explode now that ALDI has closed on the Wynn-Dixie purchase.

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P.S. it wasn’t Aldi, is was subsidiaries of Aldi. See you’re so dumb and I’m so smart and you don’t know anything about South Walton!

LMFAO

Local heads will explode now that ALDI has closed on the Wynn-Dixie purchase.

I can't wait for an Aldi to open. Funny the is we'll get that long before a Trader Joe's which would satiate a lot of the local Karen's.