Odd how Mr. Sean Boon failed to mention the letter I read to the workshop audience in his front page article. The letter personifies the majority position of the community and points out that Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach had the opportunity to "OPT" out of having signs in front of the towns. This is a very important point. This precedent really means any town may request they not be there. Here is the letter I read. Perhaps the press will read it here and mention it's importance in future articles.
Dave Rauschkolb
To: TDC Board of Directors
We know that you have received countless letters about the new signage along 30A, and you probably do not wish to read another one. But as the Founder of Seaside and as a Senior Vice President of The St. Joe Company who collectively represent approximately 500 units contributing significant revenue to the bed tax which supports your good work, we felt it important to reinforce what we understand to be the consensus along 30A…that the recently installed signage along 30A is inappropriate from an aesthetic perspective, particularly along a corridor which has been recently designated as a “scenic highway”. We acknowledge that the TDC has invested considerable time and money into these signs and that there could be much debate about what type of signage, if any, would be appropriate. But the prevailing view, which we share, is that the new signage is not at all representative of “what 30A is about” and that the signage should be removed.
It is our understanding that Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach learned about the proposed signs before their installation and elected to “opt out”. Now that we have seen the signage, we would like to do what we would have done had we learned about the signs in advance of their installation…and that is to formally “opt out” of this new signage initiative. We would like to have these signs removed from the entrances to our properties, but we also feel that the removal of these signs is important to the integrity of the entire 30A corridor. 30A is special in so many ways, including its characterization by some as the “Design Coast” and by others as “the nation’s laboratory for traditional neighborhood design”. We attract people from all over the world to this unique seaside venue – from architecture professionals to full time residents, second home owners and vacation visitors. We would hope that their experience of this unique part of the Gulf Coast lives up to everything they have read about and seen on countless travelogues which extoll the natural beauty which the TDC has done so much to protect and to promote.
We are sensitive to the difficult issues that you must face from time to time, including this one, and are grateful for the time you and your dedicated staff put into bringing these issues to resolution. As we prepare for Spring Break activities and the summer season that follows, we respectfully request that the signage in proximity to Seaside and the communities of WaterColor, WaterSound Beach and WaterSound West Beach be removed while alternative solutions are being studied.
Respectfully,
Robert Davis, Founder of Seaside
Roderick T. Wilson, Senior Vice President, The St. Joe Company
I'd be willing to bet you are right.
