please wrobert. Driving on the beach is a privilege for property-owning locals who want to pay to do so. We live here year round and many of us enjoy the convenience of driving our kayaks and chairs down to the beach several times a week. permits need to be limited - and this is a totally fair and common sense way to do it. It is our county and our responsibility to protect our beaches and ourselves from the masses of unsafe/inexperienced beach drivers from all over the country. Tourists on the roads are bad enough sometimes. you really think they need to drive on our beaches? this is not a constitutional issue. its a local safety, good common sense issue.
now, whether or not we need to continue having even locals drive on the beach is another matter entirely. The number of cars/trucks on the beach in the last 5 years or so has gotten out of hand during peak months. I believe it is becoming unsafe, at least during June and July, and big holidays such as Memorial Day.
can you even imagine if every local and every visitor was allowed access to the beach via 4-wheel car or truck? we would have even more stuck vehicles, and before you know it, people will just abandon stuck cars out in the sand along with their BA tents. BAD idea. Let's not invite disaster to our beaches.
Robert - do you live anywhere near here? just wondering.
Yes. And I grew up on Pensacola Beach. I remember the dunes we had growing up and the work we all did destroying them as driving was allowed on the beach. Thankfully that sort of driving was finally stopped, but alas, it did not matter, the developers finally finished the job that my parents started. But boy did we have fun.
I have no problem with driving on the beach, I have a problem with the hypocrisy. They want to ban bonfires because they hurt the turtles, yet driving does not? We can get a permit to drive on the beach if we own property, not even close to the beach, just somewhere in Walton County? Those conditions are ludicrous and unconstitutional. But everyone talks about wanting to follow the law of the land, except we want an exception for driving on the beach. Hypocrisy abounds. If someone wants a permit I will sell you some Walton County dirt, cheap, so you can qualify before the changes take affect.
What is wrong with driving on the beach like they do in Daytona? Everyone pays a toll and drives away? I know, I know, we need to make sure that people that drive on the beach have a vehicle that can drive on the beach so they do not get stuck, why? If they want to try it, let them try it. We could make just as much money with a guvment wrecker that charges $500 to pull you out if you are stupid enough to try.
But the right thing to do would be to stop the driving in order to protect the environment and put some restrooms in at Grayton. Talk about something that is needed.