Some good stuff here:
Florida lawmakers are stepping again into the troubled sands of a Panhandle county where beach access has been restricted for years by residents claiming their waterfront is private and off-limits to the public.
For lawmakers, it’s “War at the Shore, Part II.”
Walton County and its sugary sand beaches are the subject of a bid by state lawmakers to repeal a law passed in 2018 that is fueling heated surfside disputes over who can walk, unfurl a blanket, or plant an umbrella — and where.
Conservation groups say that while confined to Walton — home to Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Blue Mountain Beach and other tourist draws — the conflict echoes across Florida and an economy powered by sun and sand.
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“A visitor who comes to the state of Florida and experiences issues, they don’t think this is just Walton County, they think this is Florida,” said Pepper Uchino, president of the Florida Shore & Beach Preservation Association.
“That’s why we’re here, as a statewide association, urging we go back to where we were pre-2018 and support the customary use of beaches to ensure that Florida’s main economic driver of tourism and beaches in particular remain open and available to the public,” Uchino recently told the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The committee voted 9-2 to approve the repeal (SB 1622), a move supported by more than a dozen area residents seeking to restore customary use, or beach access, across all Walton County beaches. Customary use is legally defined as the traditional use of dry beach sand for public recreation, even on private property.
That’s what was crimped seven years ago with the state law that overturned a 2016 ordinance by the Walton County Commission. The county had declared the public had recreational use rights to the county’s 26 miles of dry sand beach along what was known as the Gulf of Mexico, now referred to as the Gulf of America by the U.S. government.
Many beachside owners fought the county’s move.
Powerful beach owners got attention
And state lawmakers were lobbied to negate the ordinance by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, now President Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, who owned a beach house in Walton County at the time. Huckabee sold his Blue Mountain Beach home in 2021.
The law nullified Walton County’s customary use ordinance while allowing older ordinances in other counties to remain intact.
Under current state law, any sand below the high tide water mark is publicly accessible. Dry sand above that line, though, sometimes can be privately owned, sparking clashes in coastal communities where private property borders public beaches.
The 2018 law blocked any city or county from approving a customary use ordinance until it notifies affected homeowners, holds a public hearing and goes before a judge who determines whether a private beach has historically been open to visitors.
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Walton County tried to get a court to order that the public had access to 1,194 private parcels of beachfront. But the five-year court fight ended last year with most of the private beaches remaining private.
Not surprisingly, with the repeal bill advancing, not everyone wants to see every strip of sand in Walton County made open to the public.
“The owner who can’t say ‘no trespassing’ doesn’t own his home anymore,” said John Howard, a Santa Rosa Beach resident. “It isn’t American. It is theft.”
But most of those testifying at the bill’s first committee stop, said it’s needed to restore peace on the beach. It’s also needed, they said, to bring back visitors angered and reluctant to return to the region after facing problems with beach access.
Homeowners are in trouble along the scenic beach highway known as County Road 30A, many said.
Rentals are down, because of beach battles, critics say
“I sell a lot of 30A property,” said Rachel Warrell, a real estate agent from Lynn Haven. “Most owners, especially those with vacation rentals, don’t have beach access and when access is restricted, rental demands drop, bookings decline, property values suffer, leading to fewer jobs and lost tax revenue.”
Former state Rep. Joel Rudman of Navarre, who left office in January to run unsuccessfully for Congress, had introduced a repeal bill (HB 6043) in the House, now carried by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola. Rudman said the region’s economy is hurt by the beach restrictions.
“Only 5% of vacation homes are gulf-front,” Rudman said. “So we are effectively blocking beach access to 95% of the vacation homes in the area … If you don’t have rent, you cannot meet your mortgage.
“We’re about to have an economic collapse and a housing collapse in Walton County, the likes of which you’ve never seen,” Rudman told senators.
'Something's got to give'
Sen. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, who is sponsoring the repeal effort, said “something’s got to give.”
“I’m not OK with the idea that Walton County’s economy is struggling,” he said. “Or that people who live near the beach can’t use it.”
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But whether lawmakers are ready to undo what was done in 2018 is an open question, as the two-month legislative session enters its second half.
Opposing the repeal were two former Senate presidents: Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, and Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. Passidomo sponsored the 2018 law and said she still supports the legal outline it includes for determining beach access.
Gaetz, who said he’s owned non-beachfront property in Walton County for 40 years, said he’s watched the tug-of-war play out there for years. He was convinced that if the repeal was approved by lawmakers and the county again tried to declare the beach fully public, the dispute still wouldn’t be resolved.
“If this bill passes, there will be other lawsuits,” Gaetz said. “We’ll be talking about all kinds of things. The issue won’t go away.”
He was confident that feuds between the rival sides will continue, whatever steps are taken: “Trust me, the Hatfields and McCoys will be back at it again next week.”
