I know many don't see the Beach Breeze/Defuniak Herald so I thought I would post this article from July 12th that I found interesting. It looks like we will have more fireworks in addition to handcuffs on the beach. By the way, note that this will affect private individuals and vendors so let the funn begin..
Items left on beach to be removed
By DOTTY NIST
"Remove it or lose it," is now the rule in the evening on Walton County beaches.
To alleviate what has been identified as "a severe problem," Walton County has initiated a coordinated approach to have beaches clear of clutter in the evenings. The clutter of chairs, awnings, umbrellas, and other items on the beach has long been a complaint of South Walton Turtle Watch volunteers.
Federally-protected native sea turtles come onto the beach during their spring and fall nesting season, and their reproduction can be hampered by obstacles left on the beach in the evening. Human beachgoers can also run into or trip over these obstacles as they walk on the beach at night.
On June 28, Pat Blackshear, county planning and development services director, announced a cooperative effort between the county, the tourism council, and the sheriff's office to address the problem.
Blackshear explained that items left on the beach would be tagged and then removed after 24 hours if not taken off the beach by their owners. The policy applies both to private individuals and beach vendors, who are being notified by mail.
Walton County Sheriff's Office and Walton County Code Enforcement personnel will share patrol and tagging duties. South Walton Tourist Development Council (TDC) personnel will pick up tagged items once the 24-hour period has elapsed, and owners will forfeit items that are picked up.
TDC Executive Director Kriss Titus commented that, while Walton County's beaches have been honored by the Clean Beaches Council, she believes that the TDC has not been getting the message out about the importance of an uncluttered beach.
She said the TDC plans a "remove it or lose it" marketing campaign and will post information on its web page urging visitors to comply.
Replies
658Beach Comber
The ordinance is not new. It only sounds like it is new, since the County now states that they will enforce the existing oridinance.
Fonsey, I don't think the fingers were being pointed directly at you for your particular question. Thanks for leaving the beach cleaner than you find it each day! The best answer to your question is that leaving your boat on the beach, even at the walkover, would be a violation of the County Ordinance. Where do you launch the Cat?
We are staying in Blue Mountain this year, any suggestions on where he can launch?
Beach Comber
Like the Sheriff's Office and Code Enforcement have the (wo)manpower to do that job. They don't even direct traffic, much less fine illegal vehicles on the beach. Does Pat Blackshear go to the beach? Has she seen the lines of tents and cheap crap on the beaches, every day? I don't think so.joe i usally just browse around here and keep to myself., i think you have a good grasp on beachgoings, and i for the most part agree with many of your posts. with that said, i can assure you pat blackshear goes to the beach. i can assure you she sees the mess on the beach, .. hell, her husband has been surfin the outside at 83 for longer than many posting here have owned a board. with that said, i hope everyone gives her and everyone involved a chance. its a learnin experience, and it wasnt long ago that we didnt have this on our hands,..now we do and we , as a community have to work together to get it under control. tho it has changed over the years, we all adore this place we call home,.. let us work together and hopefully things will fall into place. just some insight said in peace, see ya in the swell, joe, thanks for the consideration.
SoWal Expert
We are staying in Blue Mountain this year, any suggestions on where he can launch?For the lauch, I can think of only one launch site which could work for you, and it will require a bit of work, maybe some volunteers. In Grayton, at the east end of Hotz Ave, there is a public boat ramp to the Western Lake. The Lake outlet winds south, through some shallow water and comes within a hundred yards of the Gulf. You will have to drag it across the beach. It is doable, as I have helped other people do it before. One problem which you will encounter is that presently, from the recent storms, we now have about a 2-3ft drop from the beach to the water line. Going down will be easy, but pulling that boat back up will be a real b_tch, unless you get about 8 strong guys to get you over the hurdle. I wouldn't let that stop you from launching, just time it such that there are plenty of people on the beach to help you get it back out. Don't be too shy to ask for a hand. There are many willing people, but you have to ask.
surfdog, that is good to know. I am all for getting the stuff off the beach everyday. I just think the system which was suggested is not a possibility, since the Sheriff's Office and Code Enforcement seemed to be short staffed already. Combine that with a tagging system which tries to be nice to tourists, yet is impossible to do, and I think wheels will just be spinning in the sand. There is one way to get the stuff off the beach and that is to collect it. Do it often enough and people will take notice rather quickly. It isn't much different than people discovering WaterColor Publix. Word travels very quickly.
I know nothing but great things about Pat's husband, Tom, and Walton County really misses him in his former position. As for Pat, I'm still waiting to be WOWed.
Beach Fanatic
I use the Ramsgate walkover every morning. This year, the amount of stuff left overnight there is probably three or four times greater than it has been in previous years.
Whoever is doing the beach chair rental on this stretch must have more business than previously. Much, but not all, of the increase, is rented beach chairs. And they are all set up right at the water line, not farther back like before. They are so close that it's hard to walk down the beach, except on the wet sand.
I'd guess there's no legal issue here, but we seem to have lost a good bit of common courtesy.
Whoever is doing the beach chair rental on this stretch must have more business than previously. Much, but not all, of the increase, is rented beach chairs. And they are all set up right at the water line, not farther back like before. They are so close that it's hard to walk down the beach, except on the wet sand.
I'd guess there's no legal issue here, but we seem to have lost a good bit of common courtesy.
beats on hood
joe i usally just browse around here and keep to myself., i think you have a good grasp on beachgoings, and i for the most part agree with many of your posts. with that said, i can assure you pat blackshear goes to the beach. i can assure you she sees the mess on the beach, .. hell, her husband has been surfin the outside at 83 for longer than many posting here have owned a board. with that said, i hope everyone gives her and everyone involved a chance. its a learnin experience, and it wasnt long ago that we didnt have this on our hands,..now we do and we , as a community have to work together to get it under control. tho it has changed over the years, we all adore this place we call home,.. let us work together and hopefully things will fall into place. just some insight said in peace, see ya in the swell, joe, thanks for the consideration.I have seen Ms. Blackshear in action at planning commission meetings. From what I've seen, she and her staff are knowledgeable and conscientious regarding maintaining the integrity and aesthetics of South Walton County as we once knew it. I'm not gonna lie, in one of the meetings I observed her, she was absolutely awesome. It was clear to me that she and her staff know the area, building by building.
It saddened be to see her disparaged on a previous post.
Beach Comber
This is my very first post, so be gentle with me
While I think keeping these beaches as beautiful as the man upstairs made them is everyones job, is this not going to get out of hand like the "beach owners"
calling the sheriff to haul off someone they perceive as tresspassing???
I cherish every minute I can at the beach. Many mornings I get up and enjoy my coffee and watch the sunrise. Then it is off on a long, long walk.
When I return from my walk, will the chair I brought down at 6 a.m. be carted off by someone who believes it has "been there all night" ?
While I think keeping these beaches as beautiful as the man upstairs made them is everyones job, is this not going to get out of hand like the "beach owners"
calling the sheriff to haul off someone they perceive as tresspassing???I cherish every minute I can at the beach. Many mornings I get up and enjoy my coffee and watch the sunrise. Then it is off on a long, long walk.
When I return from my walk, will the chair I brought down at 6 a.m. be carted off by someone who believes it has "been there all night" ?
Beach FanaticAuthor
This is my very first post, so be gentle with me
While I think keeping these beaches as beautiful as the man upstairs made them is everyones job, is this not going to get out of hand like the "beach owners"
I cherish every minute I can at the beach. Many mornings I get up and enjoy my coffee and watch the sunrise. Then it is off on a long, long walk.
When I return from my walk, will the chair I brought down at 6 a.m. be carted off by someone who believes it has "been there all night" ?
It is my understanding based on all the information that has been released that the items will not be removed until after they have been there at least 24 hours. So you should be in good shape for your walk.
Skunky
This is my very first post, so be gentle with me
While I think keeping these beaches as beautiful as the man upstairs made them is everyones job, is this not going to get out of hand like the "beach owners"
I cherish every minute I can at the beach. Many mornings I get up and enjoy my coffee and watch the sunrise. Then it is off on a long, long walk.
When I return from my walk, will the chair I brought down at 6 a.m. be carted off by someone who believes it has "been there all night" ?
Probably not. Stuff exposed to the beach all night shows the wear and tear. I hope you enjoy many sunrises as spectacular as the sunset we saw tonight!SoWal Expert
Beware of the construction site on Grayton Beach. They have four tents linked together with huge pyramids, and huge holes. I informed the two guys under the tent that it was a violation to leave their crap out and asked them to fill in their holes to prevent injury to a person walking by and because of the Sea Turtle nesting period. They acknowledged that yes, it could be a safety issue. When I left the beach after dark, their crap was still there. Looked like enough crap to fit an army of twenty people. 
As I suspected, there is still no signs of the Sheriff or Code Enforcement doing anything. Give me some tags and authority, and I won't mind issuing them and collecting the goods. I did enjoy some of my time on the beach this evening, but I was saddened to see so much trash on the the beach. It looked worse that Panama City Beach. Grayton was not even closed to being a Blue Wave Certified beach today.
As I suspected, there is still no signs of the Sheriff or Code Enforcement doing anything. Give me some tags and authority, and I won't mind issuing them and collecting the goods. I did enjoy some of my time on the beach this evening, but I was saddened to see so much trash on the the beach. It looked worse that Panama City Beach. Grayton was not even closed to being a Blue Wave Certified beach today.
SoWal Expert
Tonight's sunset was one of the most interesting and beautiful ever!
Beach Fanatic
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Tonight's sunset was one of the most interesting and beautiful ever!
any pics for us poor saps from out of town? Our sun went down with torrential rain
Edited
SoWal Expert
any pics for us poor saps from out of town? Our sun went down with torrential rain
I think Bdarg took a few, and he is in charge of all things camera, so it may be a few days.
SoWal Expert
Sunset? Was there a Sunset tonight? I must have not noticed.
Meow
Sunset? Was there a Sunset tonight? I must have not noticed.
You need a vacation.
percy
SJ, when was this photo taken? Either that's mine, or someone else shares my taste in footwear.
I know the horse is dead, but leaving stuff overnight is just so odd to me; it just never occurred to me to be an option, so the fact that people do it seems so strange--anyone know what I mean?
I still need snorkel equipment and would really like one of those little wheeled carts people use to haul their stuff. Will pick up in the Fall, thanks.
Skunky
Beware of the construction site on Grayton Beach. They have four tents linked together with huge pyramids, and huge holes. I informed the two guys under the tent that it was a violation to leave their crap out and asked them to fill in their holes to prevent injury to a person walking by and because of the Sea Turtle nesting period. They acknowledged that yes, it could be a safety issue. When I left the beach after dark, their crap was still there. Looked like enough crap to fit an army of twenty people.
As I suspected, there is still no signs of the Sheriff or Code Enforcement doing anything. Give me some tags and authority, and I won't mind issuing them and collecting the goods. I did enjoy some of my time on the beach this evening, but I was saddened to see so much trash on the the beach. It looked worse that Panama City Beach. Grayton was not even closed to being a Blue Wave Certified beach today.
We went to Alys for the sunset, and even there where there are few people it was scattered with tons of stuff. Maybe it has been there awhile as there were lots of plastic nosecones from July 4th rockets. Lots of cellophane type stuff for whatever reason, too. I guess junk drifts down from Rosemary and Seacrest
Beach Fanatic
Beware of the construction site on Grayton Beach. They have four tents linked together with huge pyramids, and huge holes. I informed the two guys under the tent that it was a violation to leave their crap out and asked them to fill in their holes to prevent injury to a person walking by and because of the Sea Turtle nesting period. They acknowledged that yes, it could be a safety issue. When I left the beach after dark, their crap was still there. Looked like enough crap to fit an army of twenty people.
As I suspected, there is still no signs of the Sheriff or Code Enforcement doing anything. Give me some tags and authority, and I won't mind issuing them and collecting the goods. I did enjoy some of my time on the beach this evening, but I was saddened to see so much trash on the the beach. It looked worse that Panama City Beach. Grayton was not even closed to being a Blue Wave Certified beach today.
I feel your pain..SJ. Here at Miramar, it is just as bad.
I cannot imagine what makes a person arrive at a beautiful beach, sit and enjoy the ambiance for hours, then get up and leave a trail of garbage all the way to their car.
There is a disconnect somewhere..maybe, like just about everything these days, they think the beach is one-time-use disposable.:angry: Sheesh...
A kingdom for a handful of red tags...palease!
Beach FanaticAuthor
From the reports I heard, tagging began on Monday night and the first removals started yesterday in the Miramar area. The first section resulted in 9 extra loads of beach stuff in addition to the regular beach trash. Today they are finishing the rest of Miramar to Topsail Hill. Due to the amount of stuff, the beach has been broken down in sections to begin with. They will be continuing moving eastward through 30A with a complete pass through the area by next Tuesday.
As far as items at County/TDC accesses, they are being removed this week also. This means kayaks and anything attached to the boardwalks also so if you "had" a kayak at a County beach access, it is probably no longer there.
As far as items at County/TDC accesses, they are being removed this week also. This means kayaks and anything attached to the boardwalks also so if you "had" a kayak at a County beach access, it is probably no longer there.
Edited
Beach Fanatic
SoWal Expert
peapod,
I'll work on the snorkel equipment for you. Mostly just saw garbage yesterday, other than all the tent/chair crap which was left overnight.
That shoe pic was taken on Saturday morning of this past week, after JDarg cleaned the beach for her guests. I assumed it was one of the many abandoned shoes which had been found on the beach and placed at the boardwalk.
Yes, I know what you mean about it being strange that people leave this crap out on the beach overnight. I think the problem is that the crap is fairly cheap, when compared to the total cost of the vacation, and people don't really care if something comes up missing. Just wait until twenty chairs of one group, are taken. Then, the 'ole red flag goes up. "Damn, we shouldn't have left them out here."
I'll work on the snorkel equipment for you. Mostly just saw garbage yesterday, other than all the tent/chair crap which was left overnight.
That shoe pic was taken on Saturday morning of this past week, after JDarg cleaned the beach for her guests. I assumed it was one of the many abandoned shoes which had been found on the beach and placed at the boardwalk.
Yes, I know what you mean about it being strange that people leave this crap out on the beach overnight. I think the problem is that the crap is fairly cheap, when compared to the total cost of the vacation, and people don't really care if something comes up missing. Just wait until twenty chairs of one group, are taken. Then, the 'ole red flag goes up. "Damn, we shouldn't have left them out here."
Edited
SoWal Expert
I feel your pain..SJ. Here at Miramar, it is just as bad.
I cannot imagine what makes a person arrive at a beautiful beach, sit and enjoy the ambiance for hours, then get up and leave a trail of garbage all the way to their car.
There is a disconnect somewhere..maybe, like just about everything these days, they think the beach is one-time-use disposable.:angry: Sheesh...
A kingdom for a handful of red tags...palease!
I did see plenty of cheap plastic crap, left as garbage (small shovels, buckets, etc), however, what I saw on the beach, in the water line was in front of Grayton Beach SP, west of GB, and it was not the usual stuff. Some examples of what I saw: empty bag of potting soil, plant container, three latex industrial strength gloves, small bits of plastic, piece of a laundry basket, cheese slice wrappers, balloon string and deflated balloon, and many undetermined pieces of garbage. It was almost as though a few very garbage bags full of scavenged beach garbage had broken open and flooded the beach.
Back in front of Grayton Beach, there was so much cheap-plastic-beach-crap trash that it was rather disturbing. Keep in mind that the Sun had not set just yet, but I guarantee you that the stuff I saw, wasn't going to be collected by the owners. Seeing all of that trash on what would otherwise be a beautiful walk, makes me really dislike the disrespectful people who trash the place. If I had my choice, I'd sentence them all to a chain gang, collecting garbage from hwy 98 roadside in the heat of Aug, for 30 days.
I realize that I'm probably preaching to the choir on this board, but I say, stay at home if you are a trashy kind of person. We don't want you here!
SoWal Expert
As far as items at County/TDC accesses, they are being removed this week also. This means kayaks and anything attached to the boardwalks also so if you "had" a kayak at a County beach access, it is probably no longer there.
They cannot get here soon enough.
Do you know if these salvageable items will be available for cheap purchase from the County, by people other than the original disrespectful owners? Could be a good way to help fund the people's salaries who have to clean up the crap.
Edited
SoWal Insider
They cannot get here soon enough.
Do you know if these salvageable items will be available for cheap purchase from the County, by people other than the original disrespectful owners? Could be a good way to help fund the people's salaries who have to clean up the crap.
I was gonna suggest that too, a big yard sale or police auction type thing makes great sense.
SoWal Expert
I was gonna suggest that too, a big yard sale or police auction type thing makes great sense.My suggestion for the sale, would be to have the sale about two weeks after the taking, after the original disrespectful owners leave town, assuming they are visiting people who are here for only a week. I know there are locals who do this stuff too, but right now, the weekly tourists are the perma-tenters.
Beach FanaticAuthor
They cannot get here soon enough.
Do you know if these salvageable items will be available for cheap purchase from the County, by people other than the original disrespectful owners? Could be a good way to help fund the people's salaries who have to clean up the crap.
I am pretty sure it will not. The reason being is that many of the items will be picked up with the trash and to get it into the truck, it will have to be squished, cut, dismantled, etc. If not, there would be even MORE trucks up and down the beach which is a whole other issue, not to mention more people to work with some getting trash and others getting the beach items. The sheer volume of items will not make it feasible. I am not sure about the kayaks though.
On another note, all of the tags have a "remove by" date on them so if you see something that has an "expired" remove date it will be taken that day so go get 'em!
Edited
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