Is Walton County buying land for public access ?

Over the past year, Walton County Commissioners and the Tourist Development Council have been working together to purchase beach front properties for public beach accesses.

Now, Commissioners have approved purchase of another piece of property to buy, located at 907 Scenic Gulf Drive in Santa Rosa Beach. For approximately $1.5 million, the Commissioners approved the request and signed a contract with Jeffi LLC for the purchase. Walton County Tourist Development Representative, David Demarest said this property will expand the public beach access that they already have right next to it.

The Walton County Tourist Development Council has around $5 million left in their budget. TDC officials said they anticipate their next purchase to be in Seacrest.

On Tuesday evening, July 11, The Walton County Board of County Commissioners approved the purchase by Visit South Walton of a beachfront parcel for $1,537,500. The property, at 907 Scenic Gulf Drive, is directly adjacent to a property purchased by Visit South Walton earlier this year. The additional parcel expands the total frontage of the to-be-constructed new regional beach access to 410 feet.

Included with the newly purchased parcel is a structure, allowing Visit South Walton to build a bathhouse facility without limiting the existing Gulf views from Scenic Gulf Drive. The agreed on price for the property is $50,000 below the average appraised value for the property.

“This property adds beachfront to South Walton’s planned regional beach accesses,” says Visit South Walton Executive Director Jay Tusa. “Our goal is to ensure continued ease of beach access in South Walton so both locals and visitors can experience our beautiful beaches.”

Since August 2016 Visit South Walton has purchased seven beachfront parcels for a total of 747 feet of beachfront to be used as three new regional access points, along with a 7.35-acre inland property that currently serves as additional parking in the Rosemary Beach area. The total spend for these properties is $25.6 million. When the newly purchased beachfront properties open as regional beach accesses, the total number of regional beach access points in South Walton will rise from seven to 10. Each regional beach access point includes parking, bathroom facilities, and a lifeguard station. The three new regional beach access points will be located in Miramar Beach, Seagrove Beach, and Dune Allen Beach.

The properties were purchased and will be maintained using bed tax dollars, a 4 percent tax collected on short term rentals. The bed taxes for May of 2017 are up 7 percent over the same time period in 2016, with the year to date total up 11 percent. Bed taxes provide a good indication of visitor demand, as they are influenced both by number of visitors and the average daily rates of short term rentals.

The last parking lot worked out great. Bud and alleys red bar and the watercolors employes all park there. Maybe the business should help pay some of it. They fill it up by 8 am. Great 7 million dollar purchase

The last parking lot worked out great. Bud and alleys red bar and the watercolors employes all park there. Maybe the business should help pay some of it. They fill it up by 8 am. Great 7 million dollar purchase

That one never made sense. Don't compare that one with beach accesses.

Seriously?
Back-door deal deprives TDC of Highland House property

A back-door deal for the purchase of the Highlands House bed and breakfast property has deprived Walton County from obtaining land it wanted to use to establish a public beach access on County Road 30A.

A group of people represented at a public meeting last week by attorney Mike Burke “got together and outbid the county” for the property, according to David Demarest, spokesman for the Walton County Tourist Development Council.

Demarest said the five or so neighbors who bought the Highlands House parcel offered about $3.3 million, or $300,000 more than the price the county had negotiated.

“The county wasn’t given an opportunity to counter-offer,” Demarest said.

County commissioners were scheduled to vote Tuesday to finalize the contract to buy the property, but instead removed the item from their meeting agenda. Officials seemed to have few details about the private sale.

“What we know for sure is the property got sold out from under us for significantly more than we would have paid for it,” Demarest said.

County Attorney Sidney Noyes referred questions about the sale to Burke or Robert McGill, another attorney who had argued against the county’s purchase of the Highlands House parcel at the commission’s Nov. 13 meeting.

McGill said he knew nothing about the sale and that none of his clients was involved in the deal.

Burke did not return a phone call.

Spooky Lane owners defeated the TDC Invasion...took matters into their own hands and Outbid county and beach vendor mafia for 1000’ of beach access and 100’s of beach chair and umbrella setups. Spooky Lane Owners Rock.

Not good.