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30aconcerned

Beach Lover
Oct 26, 2012
108
37
Thought I would start a new discussion thread on what appears to be a very hot topic. Any comments?
 

Jenksy

Beach Fanatic
Oct 25, 2012
799
617
They are here to stay and growing - like it or not.

First it's important to differentiate between golf carts and low speed vehicles (LSV).

Most people don't know the difference and that's a problem. They'll drive golf carts where they are not legal. On the other hand, just because a cart is street legal (LSV) doesn't mean it's a good idea to drive on a busy road or highway, even if it is on a stretch where allowed (posted 35 mph or less).

Golf carts and LSVs have no place outside the confines of developments IMO - keep them inside watercolors, watersound, sandestin, etc. Not in between or seagrove or blue mountain - too dangerous. Stupis parents think its ok for kids to drive them. Some people think its ok to drink and drive them or ride them on bike path, sidewalk, shoulder, etc.

I can't believe any on even proposed building a sep path.
 

Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,250
9,279
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
I don't know why we need golf carts to get from place to place but the popularity has been growing all over the country, including SoWal, for many years. People drive them in my neighborhood instead of walking or biking - it is convenient for some folks for various reasons. Are they allowed on the road? I wouldn't think so but they are there and they have always been part of the hood as well as dirt bikes and 4 wheelers (we do live in the woods).

LSVs have not bothered me at all - recently when behind a tiny car going very slowly - the driver promptly pulled over to let other cars pass. If only everyone on the road was so kind and courteous, with regard for the safety of everyone.

Surely, the county will need to look to similar beach destinations and their solutions for all kinds of alternative vehicles used along their roads.

I do love seeing so many people walking, jogging and biking all up and down Scenic Hwy 30A. I don't think golf carts belong outside of a resort town or on the road at all. But, to be realistic, people LOVE them and use them more than ever. I don't know what the best solutions are other than ENFORCE laws for the safety of everyone.
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,297
Eastern Lake
It seems to me that the overwhelming response on this forum has been that golf carts and LSV's are OK in confined neighborhoods where all vehicles are traveling 15 or 20 mph. The overwhelming response has also been that these type vehicles should not be allowed on the open rural highways of South Walton. 30-A is a highway that supports all the people of South Walton. It is the only means by which all residents get to work. It is the only means by which all deliveries and all commuting are made. Think about it: construction lumber, UPS trucks, Fed Ex trucks, restaurant supplies, fire trucks, ambulances, realtors, more realtors, restaurant customers, your favorite waiter, people trying to get to Walmart, people trying to get to a movie, etc. etc. Why should the majority of all people who use this road every day of their lives be penalized for the sake of a few entitled tourists who spend a carefree couple of weeks here. The highway is for all the people. The beauty of this highway is that it is still rural and unencumbered for many miles that run through forests and dune lake environments, and it is truly safe to drive at a reasonable 45 mph. By all means, we should have traffic calming
concerns at all towns and places where the bicycle paths interface, but the open portions should remain free, unencumbered, and flowing at a natural pace.
 
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BeachRob

Beach Lover
Nov 30, 2012
161
65
I am appreciative of this new thread; because the speed limit discussion is too narrow of a topic; and I think some of the readers who would otherwise agree carts are bad of 30A are put off by the "conspiracy theories." (It's not a theory, by the way. I have seen the petitions. There is big big money to be made by changing the speed limit.)

There are several issues I can think of. And I am eager and interested to hear others' opinions.

My first concern has to do with principle and economics. 30-A is several things. Among those, it is a road, a concept of how to live and vacation, and a community with an economy. Try to find a national chain or franchise here, and you will be hard pressed. One fellow settler described the area to me as, "the last bastion of small business and entrepreneurship." I think you can launch a business in a lot of places. But, I love that statement.

I love living here. I love chatting up the guy behind the counter, who moved here and owns his shop. It's great; and it's part of what brings people back time-and-time-again. We have a soul. We are a community. We have mutual appreciation. We are interconnected.

The golf cart rental industry in our area consists of companies either headquartered in Destin or Defuniak Springs, run by individuals domiciled in those cities, or both. Revenue from rentals does not go to locals. Dollars made on carts don't go back into the community. They don't end up in the cash tills of the "last bastion of small business." Every dollar spent on cart rentals is a dollar not spent in Seaside, Rosemary, Grayton, etc. Whether you are talking about an $800 expense eating into the visitors' budgets, or the fact the company owners don't support local business, that money is gone from 30-A.

Secondly, South Walton County doesn't - and shouldn't- have the infrastructure to accommodate golf carts (or golf carts by another name) as leisure transport.

When Grayton, Seagrove, and Inlet Beach were settled, those early visitors likely came in something like a Ford 4-door Super Deluxe. One car. That was sufficient. And they had a parcel of land the size of a football field to park it on.

When Seaside was dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners likely had in mind a family coming down in a Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon with faux wood sides. One car... 1 (uno caro)

When Rosemary Beach and other more recent developments were dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners required parking for 2 cars. As time went on, and developers got creative, that began to be interpreted as parking space for one midsize SUV and a Mini Cooper.

The issue becomes compounded when you take into account the fact a vacation rental is often shared by multiple families.

What started as a likely average of 1.25 cars per house, now probably runs 2.5 cars per house on an infinitely smaller piece of dirt. And that is before the golf cart gets delivered. To add insult to injury, Suburbans and other XLSUVs are now the standard.

Parking congestion has a lot of repercussions. There is increased wear and tear on the communities, it frustrates visitors; and, more importantly... those extra 4 wheels (usually the Suburban) have no where to go in Rosemary, Seaside, and other communities except "town square." But, those parking spaces are there to support those businesses, not to serve as a "long term lot."

The third issue is obviously my pet favorite. 30-A is a HIGHWAY... designed, built, and maintained for internal combustion automobiles; with a separately engineered path for slower moving cyclist and pedestrians. The road is not for lolly-gagging. Allowing golf carts on 30-A - or dropping the speed limit to below 36mph, which is the same thing- stifles traffic. Unlike Destin or Panama City Beach, we don't have a "front, middle, and back beach road" or north-south access every city block. And I don't want those kinds of roads. Saying any more about that on this thread would be kicking a dead horse.

Other folks have issues with the common use of the carts. (kids driving them, grownups running onto the curb at 11PM with a styro-cup in their hand, carts stacked up at the boardwalks) All valid concerns.

I'd love to own a cart. If I had one, I'd drive it on residential roads, to get to the beach, in a development that has plenty of parking.
 

30A Skunkape

Skunky
Jan 18, 2006
10,286
2,312
53
Backatown Seagrove
I am appreciative of this new thread; because the speed limit discussion is too narrow of a topic; and I think some of the readers who would otherwise agree carts are bad of 30A are put off by the "conspiracy theories." (It's not a theory, by the way. I have seen the petitions. There is big big money to be made by changing the speed limit.)

There are several issues I can think of. And I am eager and interested to hear others' opinions.

My first concern has to do with principle and economics. 30-A is several things. Among those, it is a road, a concept of how to live and vacation, and a community with an economy. Try to find a national chain or franchise here, and you will be hard pressed. One fellow settler described the area to me as, "the last bastion of small business and entrepreneurship." I think you can launch a business in a lot of places. But, I love that statement.

I love living here. I love chatting up the guy behind the counter, who moved here and owns his shop. It's great; and it's part of what brings people back time-and-time-again. We have a soul. We are a community. We have mutual appreciation. We are interconnected.

The golf cart rental industry in our area consists of companies either headquartered in Destin or Defuniak Springs, run by individuals domiciled in those cities, or both. Revenue from rentals does not go to locals. Dollars made on carts don't go back into the community. They don't end up in the cash tills of the "last bastion of small business." Every dollar spent on cart rentals is a dollar not spent in Seaside, Rosemary, Grayton, etc. Whether you are talking about an $800 expense eating into the visitors' budgets, or the fact the company owners don't support local business, that money is gone from 30-A.

Secondly, South Walton County doesn't - and shouldn't- have the infrastructure to accommodate golf carts (or golf carts by another name) as leisure transport.

When Grayton, Seagrove, and Inlet Beach were settled, those early visitors likely came in something like a Ford 4-door Super Deluxe. One car. That was sufficient. And they had a parcel of land the size of a football field to park it on.

When Seaside was dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners likely had in mind a family coming down in a Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon with faux wood sides. One car... 1 (uno caro)

When Rosemary Beach and other more recent developments were dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners required parking for 2 cars. As time went on, and developers got creative, that began to be interpreted as parking space for one midsize SUV and a Mini Cooper.

The issue becomes compounded when you take into account the fact a vacation rental is often shared by multiple families.

What started as a likely average of 1.25 cars per house, now probably runs 2.5 cars per house on an infinitely smaller piece of dirt. And that is before the golf cart gets delivered. To add insult to injury, Suburbans and other XLSUVs are now the standard.

Parking congestion has a lot of repercussions. There is increased wear and tear on the communities, it frustrates visitors; and, more importantly... those extra 4 wheels (usually the Suburban) have no where to go in Rosemary, Seaside, and other communities except "town square." But, those parking spaces are there to support those businesses, not to serve as a "long term lot."

The third issue is obviously my pet favorite. 30-A is a HIGHWAY... designed, built, and maintained for internal combustion automobiles; with a separately engineered path for slower moving cyclist and pedestrians. The road is not for lolly-gagging. Allowing golf carts on 30-A - or dropping the speed limit to below 36mph, which is the same thing- stifles traffic. Unlike Destin or Panama City Beach, we don't have a "front, middle, and back beach road" or north-south access every city block. And I don't want those kinds of roads. Saying any more about that on this thread would be kicking a dead horse.

Other folks have issues with the common use of the carts. (kids driving them, grownups running onto the curb at 11PM with a styro-cup in their hand, carts stacked up at the boardwalks) All valid concerns.

I'd love to own a cart. If I had one, I'd drive it on residential roads, to get to the beach, in a development that has plenty of parking.

Bullseye, you nailed it! Look long and hard for a golf cart rental outlet on 30-A...you'll never find one. It is a carpet bagging type of business and is a symptom of a larger problem we beach bums who live south of the bay deal with, namely, way too many NORWALERS who see our beaches and the revenue they generate as their little cash cow without regarding the concept of being 'good neighbors'.

I would like to give kudos to Dean Mitchell with Beach Buggys, however. I give him credit for being very open about his business, posting phone numbers and encouraging reports of 'carts behaving badly', if you will.
 
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Andy A

Beach Fanatic
Feb 28, 2007
4,389
1,738
Blue Mountain Beach
Almost every individual has a cell phone. If you are driving on 30A and observe an unlicensed, illegal golf cart on the roadway or bike path, call 267-2000 and file a complaint with the sheriff's office. We need ENFORCEMENT of our traffic laws.
 

sunny850

Beach Lover
Jul 16, 2012
59
47
Skunk ape, What a ridiculous statement. You do realize that most of the original owners of sowal property were, in fact, people who lived in north Walton and many, many people that live in nowal own homes and property in sowal. Most of the old original cottages that still stand in sowal are owned by families in the north end of the county and yes many business owners and developers in sowal choose to live in nowal. Why do you think that is a bad thing? Do you think only people who move to the south end from somewhere else(but not north Walton!) should own businesses on 30a? As a person who was born and raised in Walton county and a homeowner and business owner in both the
north and south end of the county, it always cracks me up when people who move to sowal from other places talk about "their beaches" and how those nowalers just want to benefit from the south end. We were playing on those pristine dunes when we were in diapers, long before everyone else discovered this piece of paradise!
 
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30A Skunkape

Skunky
Jan 18, 2006
10,286
2,312
53
Backatown Seagrove
Skunky has a selective notion of carpetbagging. He loves WalMart! :rotfl:

But you will NEVER catch me there in a golf cart!

And by the way, if I remember correctly you were in the doom and gloom crowd as to how SOWALMART was going to run everything else out of business. Can you name ANY local stores that have gone under, as a result of SOWALMART (go ahead, be creative), since they opened their doors?
 
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