Sick Of Beach Chair Vendors in South Walton

Board of County Commission meetings

www.co.walton.fl.us/

Don't expect much out of our BCC as it relates to vendors and public access.

Every Fall they (BCC) look into Vendor problems, only to study on the issue until next meeting. They January meeting explain , "it is to close to spring break to start new policies " and say issues will be revisited after season in the fall..Add your on year dates..this is ground hog day repeated every year by BCC for last 5 years.

Every Fall they (BCC) look into Vendor problems, only to study on the issue until next meeting. They January meeting explain , "it is to close to spring break to start new policies " and say issues will be revisited after season in the fall..Add your on year dates..this is ground hog day repeated every year by BCC for last 5 years.

It must be the Ground Hog Effect...

It must be the Ground Hog Effect...

Every Fall they (BCC) look into Vendor problems, only to study on the issue until next meeting. They January meeting explain , "it is to close to spring break to start new policies " and say issues will be revisited after season in the fall..Add your on year dates..this is ground hog day repeated every year by BCC for last 5 years.

There it is again...

Sad but true Steel, sad but true.

Every Fall they (BCC) look into Vendor problems, only to study on the issue until next meeting. They January meeting explain , "it is to close to spring break to start new policies " and say issues will be revisited after season in the fall..Add your on year dates..this is ground hog day repeated every year by BCC for last 5 years.

Double Lordy! SMH...

"Where is your beach" seriously Kurt???

Yes I wanted a specific location.

Maybe the entire world is not against you.

Hmm. At one point the water was under this tent and a man moved it back.

You do realize that tent in the waterline , and the vast majority of tents , are not from vendors . Those same tents are prohibited in the new Customary use ordinance . But surprise they are still there . Though with 11 code enforcement officers 7 days a week (so max 5 per shift ) for 26 miles what can one truly expect from them?
There isn't enough space for everyone to sit directly front row , especially with the tent sprawl. The vendors put out chairs that have been paid for , they don't set them up for fun. I'm not saying the deal vendors currently have with the county are in the interest of the local tax paying constituents however that's the current situation .

Very simple solution. If it is a commercial enterprise, or otherwise earns money, it is not allowed at a publicly owned facility (beach accesses, boat ramps, etc.).

Wait...that's too easy.

You do realize that tent in the waterline , and the vast majority of tents , are not from vendors . Those same tents are prohibited in the new Customary use ordinance . But surprise they are still there . Though with 11 code enforcement officers 7 days a week (so max 5 per shift ) for 26 miles what can one truly expect from them?
There isn't enough space for everyone to sit directly front row , especially with the tent sprawl. The vendors put out chairs that have been paid for , they don't set them up for fun. I'm not saying the deal vendors currently have with the county are in the interest of the local tax paying constituents however that's the current situation .

They don't set them up for fun? Well they don't set them up,rented either....they are ghost chairs hoping someone sits in them and then must pay..IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO SETUP UNRENTED CHAIRS. but who cares?
Not Enforcement.....

Yes I wanted a specific location.

Maybe the entire world is not against you.

Maybe not the world..but most certainly BCC and TDC...and not against me but all SOWAL Locals......

You do realize that tent in the waterline , and the vast majority of tents , are not from vendors . Those same tents are prohibited in the new Customary use ordinance . But surprise they are still there . Though with 11 code enforcement officers 7 days a week (so max 5 per shift ) for 26 miles what can one truly expect from them?
There isn't enough space for everyone to sit directly front row , especially with the tent sprawl. The vendors put out chairs that have been paid for , they don't set them up for fun. I'm not saying the deal vendors currently have with the county are in the interest of the local tax paying constituents however that's the current situation .

Oh, sorry, but you are mistaken... I get there early and the parking lot is practically empty, but the we waterline of the beach is already full of tents and chairs (one vendor sets up on one side of the life guard and has all the same chairs and umbrellas and on the other side is the vendor with all shapes and sizes of chair and tents. I know it's a vendor because the chairs and tents sit empty for a couple of hours. I've watched them set them up before. Even if they are already paid for which I doubt., It's still not ok for the vendor to block people who get there early from getting a choice spot. To me that's like holding the water's edge hostage.

They don't set them up for fun? Well they don't set them up,rented either....they are ghost chairs hoping someone sits in them and then must pay..IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO SETUP UNRENTED CHAIRS. but who cares?
Not Enforcement.....

They need to make vendors tag their equipment so the enforcement officers can tell for sure and stop this camouflage bs. That would be tooooooo easy.

Even the privately owned beaches are having problems with people, both tourists and locals bringing tents down, setting them up, and then leaving for up to a few hours. The funny thing is that people have these tents and then, more often than not, nobody is even sitting under it! Beach placeholder!

Oh, sorry, but you are mistaken... I get there early and the parking lot is practically empty, but the we waterline of the beach is already full of tents and chairs (one vendor sets up on one side of the life guard and has all the same chairs and umbrellas and on the other side is the vendor with all shapes and sizes of chair and tents. I know it's a vendor because the chairs and tents sit empty for a couple of hours. I've watched them set them up before. Even if they are already paid for which I doubt., It's still not ok for the vendor to block people who get there early from getting a choice spot. To me that's like holding the water's edge hostage.

I'm not trying to argue with you , just educate you. If you didn't even know what the BCC was , you've got a lot to learn . Vendors at a public access get 50% of the access. That's the side with the uniform chairs . Code enforcement does actually ticket the vendors when they violate rules . The other side of all sizes of chairs and tents is the non vendor side . That is left to public. You see them empty , because they set up and leave . Saving space to come back later.

I live gulf front full time. There is no where in my neighborhood to park on the street legally . So an empty parking lot doesn't mean anything . Yet as soon as that sun comes up , and sometimes before , tents and chairs start going up . The race to get front row begins. Then people leave them for a few hours , and finally go sit in the chairs or get in the water etc. Sometimes they even leave for dinner and come back after the sun has set to collect their tents . Sometimes they even leave them there . The vendors in this stretch of beach do not vend tents. Sometimes the people who have rented chairs & umbrellas bring their own tents to place behind their rented sets.

*I also agree that there is a problem , but there are many pieces to it .

I'm not trying to argue with you , just educate you. If you didn't even know what the BCC was , you've got a lot to learn . Vendors at a public access get 50% of the access. That's the side with the uniform chairs . Code enforcement does actually ticket the vendors when they violate rules . The other side of all sizes of chairs and tents is the non vendor side . That is left to public. You see them empty , because they set up and leave . Saving space to come back later.

I live gulf front full time. There is no where in my neighborhood to park on the street legally . So an empty parking lot doesn't mean anything . Yet as soon as that sun comes up , and sometimes before , tents and chairs start going up . The race to get front row begins. Then people leave them for a few hours , and finally go sit in the chairs or get in the water etc. Sometimes they even leave for dinner and come back after the sun has set to collect their tents . Sometimes they even leave them there . The vendors in this stretch of beach do not vend tents. Sometimes the people who have rented chairs & umbrellas bring their own tents to place behind their rented sets.

*I also agree that there is a problem , but there are many pieces to it .

Like I told you, I have sat there and watched the SAME group of guys set up dozens (and NOT the dark blue ones) chairs and tents on different occasions and on a different side from the dark blue ones. Again, all at the same time. I go to this beach access alot, I know what I'm looking at b/c I'm seeing the same thing day after day. If it makes you happy I will ask these people who they work for....and of course get back to you.

Unfortunately you are correct about locals.

Just wait till after season and all the traffic enforcement starts...

A true local speaking here.

Like I told you, I have sat there and watched the SAME group of guys set up dozens (and NOT the dark blue ones) chairs and tents on different occasions and on a different side from the dark blue ones. Again, all at the same time. I go to this beach access alot, I know what I'm looking at b/c I'm seeing the same thing day after day. If it makes you happy I will ask these people who they work for....and of course get back to you.

If its the location I think it is I believe a vendor in that area with heavy presence is Burke's Beach Service.

Even the privately owned beaches are having problems with people, both tourists and locals bringing tents down, setting them up, and then leaving for up to a few hours. The funny thing is that people have these tents and then, more often than not, nobody is even sitting under it! Beach placeholder!

I walked from the Bramble Grove walk-over in Seagrove to the Blue Mtn Beach walk-over (by Redfish) and back every day this past week and weekend. The tents are not the real offenders. It is the vendors at Seaside and Watercolor that find it imperative that their (first row of) chairs be as close to the water as possible....so much so that I actually had to walk in the water to get around the umbrellas (it is so ridiculous that I had to comment to one of the set-up guys that they should just put pontoons on their chairs and float them in the water). Worse, the umbrellas are lined up so close to one-another, touching on both sides, such that they create a good multi-thousand foot-long 6' deep umbrella. Yet, they won't allow a tent larger than 6x6?......really?!

At least I got a good laugh though....due to the way the wave action carved the beach up this past week, creating a mini-lake upland of the surf and sand, and giving the umbrella guys a mental challenge. They were obviously up to the task.....they actually put the number 2 line of umbrellas and chairs (for those already rendered the "less than beautiful people" since they can't see the beach due to the 1st line of umbrellas and the heads, towels, and whatnot of their fortunate users) actually in the water! I was wondering how these guys expected these poor folks to put their stuff down when their chairs were literally surrounded by 6 inches of water on all sides for a few feet (until they run into the next customer). I also wondered whether they gave a customer discount to these folks for their piece of Paradise being under water (maybe this is akin to selling Florida swampland as "water frontage" to the unsuspecting tourists!). The best, though, was that fronting the Seaside thousand-foot umbrella there was a small sand outcropping and jutted out from the umbrella line about 6 feet parallel to the water for about 8 feet....there sat two "regular" (not rental) chairs....rendering the Seaside 1st line a lowly second line!!!! I had to laugh. If those chairs were yours, I was the one who put the pink-clothed "baby Barbie" with the crazy hair in your cup-holder (I found her washed ashore somewhere by the park beach frontage)....I'm too old to play with Barbies.

If its the location I think it is I believe a vendor in that area with heavy presence is Burke's Beach Service.

We arrived at the beach today and i do believe i heard angels singing! Fewer chairs and tents and they were spaced out and back from water. Code enforcement drove by several times. The news coverage day before yesterday may have shamed someone into being courteous. I feel the local love already.

You know at last Fall (2016) year end review BCC and TDC said they only received 20 or so complaints. Ha ha ha.,.i personality gave out BCC members email addresses ( requested) over 20 times. So their year end review started with their heads in the sand. They (BCC) see NOTHING WRONG WITH 1,000's of feet of umbrellas.

Teresa, so you think you being blocked off the beach 4 months out of the year is OK? With that attitude things will just get worse and Vendors and BCC win

I'm ok with the crowds and crazy summer time season, but not with the chairs/umbrellas taking over any time of the year. Our county is failing us on managing beach vendors, that much is clear. Other beaches in Florida have managed to control the situation and keep beaches clear of too many vendors and their stuff.

However, as a long time local, I am over the beach in peak season / summer time so I personally am not that effected - I know when to go and where. But I still don't like the current practice of too many vendors ruining the wide open beach experience. Some of the vendors I've watched this summer out on Grayton Beach were very professional, efficient and courteous. But still, the empty chairs were lined up in prime spots and in our way when we arrived for sunset and there is just too much stuff everywhere.

I'm sorry for those locals (and visitors) who are crowded out in the summer. I don't know why we have allowed the situation to escalate so fast and so far. It's almost like there's no one in charge of our little growing beach town. Thankful for the beach control folks (TDC, lifeguards and deputies) - many work hard keeping us safe, patrolling and cleaning up after dark. Vendors are hard workers and providing a service that must be in great demand. Still, there must be a way to keep beaches clear of stuff unless it is in use.

I'm a Grayton Beach goer. But seriously want to explore the many other beach accesses along the coast on 30A and beyond. Surely there are places to discover. Or is that over at Cape San Blas?

Speaking as a fourth generation local, beach propertyowner, full time resident and parent of kids who work for beach chair vendors every summer, who has NEVER rented a beach chair in my life, I can't resist commenting on this thread. First, let me restate I have personally never rented from a vendor. I typically carry a bag, a chair, and a small umbrella when I walk down to the beach. I also choose to live at the less crowded west end of the beach where there are very few vendor setups. However, we have a lot of friends and family who come from other states to stay at our beaches. I try to look at this from their perspective.They save all year to come to Walton county's beaches for one or two weeks, usually coming in huge droves with extended family for a reunion type vacation. Most we know stay at seaside or watercolor or rosemary or other resort areas where there are services, like beach chairs. They go online as soon as they know their dates and reserve their seats. They pay for them in advance, rain or shine. . They are happy to do it because they don't want to bring 14 chairs and umbrellas in their cars or on a plane. It's their vacation and they are willing to spend lots of money to be comfortable and unencumbered. They know in advance exactly where their chairs will be because they choose them in advance. (Just like we do when we buy tickets to a concert or broadway play- the best seats go fast and cost more). Some days they decide to go shopping, or stay in the pool, but they have paid for the seats, and the vendor has no idea whether they are coming down to the beach each day or what time. So YES you see empty seats. should we require the vacationer to stay seated in the chairs at all times?! Despite what some people on this thread seem to think, we NEED these tourists. I lived in this county when San Destin was about the Only place for a teenager to get a job. No outlet malls, no movie theater, no Commons, and a handful of restaurants. (Personally I loved it like that but there's no unringing that bell). The vendors are not these greedy people you like to think they are. They are providing a service that the tourists want! They provide jobs to hundreds of local kids. And to the person above laughing about the chairs in the water.....that's done purposely because in case you haven't noticed there's a Tide that goes out AFTeR the chairs are set up.

Speaking as a fourth generation local, beach propertyowner, full time resident and parent of kids who work for beach chair vendors every summer, who has NEVER rented a beach chair in my life, I can't resist commenting on this thread. First, let me restate I have personally never rented from a vendor. I typically carry a bag, a chair, and a small umbrella when I walk down to the beach. I also choose to live at the less crowded west end of the beach where there are very few vendor setups. However, we have a lot of friends and family who come from other states to stay at our beaches. I try to look at this from their perspective.They save all year to come to Walton county's beaches for one or two weeks, usually coming in huge droves with extended family for a reunion type vacation. Most we know stay at seaside or watercolor or rosemary or other resort areas where there are services, like beach chairs. They go online as soon as they know their dates and reserve their seats. They pay for them in advance, rain or shine. . They are happy to do it because they don't want to bring 14 chairs and umbrellas in their cars or on a plane. It's their vacation and they are willing to spend lots of money to be comfortable and unencumbered. They know in advance exactly where their chairs will be because they choose them in advance. (Just like we do when we buy tickets to a concert or broadway play- the best seats go fast and cost more). Some days they decide to go shopping, or stay in the pool, but they have paid for the seats, and the vendor has no idea whether they are coming down to the beach each day or what time. So YES you see empty seats. should we require the vacationer to stay seated in the chairs at all times?! Despite what some people on this thread seem to think, we NEED these tourists. I lived in this county when San Destin was about the Only place for a teenager to get a job. No outlet malls, no movie theater, no Commons, and a handful of restaurants. (Personally I loved it like that but there's no unringing that bell). The vendors are not these greedy people you like to think they are. They are providing a service that the tourists want! They provide jobs to hundreds of local kids. And to the person above laughing about the chairs in the water.....that's done purposely because in case you haven't noticed there's a Tide that goes out AFTeR the chairs are set up.

Not greedy...haha. They get to set up on million dollar beach front property for free (that cost taxpayers millions) rent chairs and get paid the big bucks to do it and charge ridiculous prices as well. They are also allowed to store their crap on the beaches which interfere with the sea turtle nesting habitats. Spare us the accolades.

You can put lipstick on a pig but its still a pig.

Speaking as a fourth generation local, beach propertyowner, full time resident and parent of kids who work for beach chair vendors every summer, who has NEVER rented a beach chair in my life, I can't resist commenting on this thread. First, let me restate I have personally never rented from a vendor. I typically carry a bag, a chair, and a small umbrella when I walk down to the beach. I also choose to live at the less crowded west end of the beach where there are very few vendor setups. However, we have a lot of friends and family who come from other states to stay at our beaches. I try to look at this from their perspective.They save all year to come to Walton county's beaches for one or two weeks, usually coming in huge droves with extended family for a reunion type vacation. Most we know stay at seaside or watercolor or rosemary or other resort areas where there are services, like beach chairs. They go online as soon as they know their dates and reserve their seats. They pay for them in advance, rain or shine. . They are happy to do it because they don't want to bring 14 chairs and umbrellas in their cars or on a plane. It's their vacation and they are willing to spend lots of money to be comfortable and unencumbered. They know in advance exactly where their chairs will be because they choose them in advance. (Just like we do when we buy tickets to a concert or broadway play- the best seats go fast and cost more). Some days they decide to go shopping, or stay in the pool, but they have paid for the seats, and the vendor has no idea whether they are coming down to the beach each day or what time. So YES you see empty seats. should we require the vacationer to stay seated in the chairs at all times?! Despite what some people on this thread seem to think, we NEED these tourists. I lived in this county when San Destin was about the Only place for a teenager to get a job. No outlet malls, no movie theater, no Commons, and a handful of restaurants. (Personally I loved it like that but there's no unringing that bell). The vendors are not these greedy people you like to think they are. They are providing a service that the tourists want! They provide jobs to hundreds of local kids. And to the person above laughing about the chairs in the water.....that's done purposely because in case you haven't noticed there's a Tide that goes out AFTeR the chairs are set up.

Local kids HaHaHa on our beach two workers are from Wisconsin..one quit last week because of the way he was told to handle situations..against his life principals..

Speaking as a fourth generation local, beach propertyowner, full time resident and parent of kids who work for beach chair vendors every summer, who has NEVER rented a beach chair in my life, I can't resist commenting on this thread. First, let me restate I have personally never rented from a vendor. I typically carry a bag, a chair, and a small umbrella when I walk down to the beach. I also choose to live at the less crowded west end of the beach where there are very few vendor setups. However, we have a lot of friends and family who come from other states to stay at our beaches. I try to look at this from their perspective.They save all year to come to Walton county's beaches for one or two weeks, usually coming in huge droves with extended family for a reunion type vacation. Most we know stay at seaside or watercolor or rosemary or other resort areas where there are services, like beach chairs. They go online as soon as they know their dates and reserve their seats. They pay for them in advance, rain or shine. . They are happy to do it because they don't want to bring 14 chairs and umbrellas in their cars or on a plane. It's their vacation and they are willing to spend lots of money to be comfortable and unencumbered. They know in advance exactly where their chairs will be because they choose them in advance. (Just like we do when we buy tickets to a concert or broadway play- the best seats go fast and cost more). Some days they decide to go shopping, or stay in the pool, but they have paid for the seats, and the vendor has no idea whether they are coming down to the beach each day or what time. So YES you see empty seats. should we require the vacationer to stay seated in the chairs at all times?! Despite what some people on this thread seem to think, we NEED these tourists. I lived in this county when San Destin was about the Only place for a teenager to get a job. No outlet malls, no movie theater, no Commons, and a handful of restaurants. (Personally I loved it like that but there's no unringing that bell). The vendors are not these greedy people you like to think they are. They are providing a service that the tourists want! They provide jobs to hundreds of local kids. And to the person above laughing about the chairs in the water.....that's done purposely because in case you haven't noticed there's a Tide that goes out AFTeR the chairs are set up.

Sunny, I understand why people like rental chairs. However they are renting the chair not the public property it is sitting on and have no right to that property when they are not even on the beach. Nor does the vendor as far as i am concerned. The vendor should set their stuff when they arrive. Their chairs and tents shouldn't block others from walking at waters edge. Thats common courtesy.

Not everyone needs an outlet mall for a teen to work at, and not everybody needs tourists.