Wonderful family vacation...discouraged by beach issues

[steel1man]

Easy to say. Not easy to accomplish unless you have full time gear on the beach with attendants like the resorts. Walton County shouldn't be in the beach vending business. The alternative is to lease out property and take a cut or have vendors bid on accesses. Another mess and opportunities for abuses.

The other alternative is to ban vendors on public beaches. I'm sure there are plenty of private property owners withing walking distance of an access that would be happy to make money by employing vendors and gear like a resort. Another can of worms and something that would have to be regulated by the county and more legal headaches.

However I am for banning vendors on public property. If people need chairs and umbrellas and boats, etc. let them stay at a resort. Keep the public beaches free and clean.

It’s call Public for a reason..if not you would call it 30A Shades ( are what ever) beach.... Since the Beach Mafia doesn’t own or pay property taxes on, YET they earn 10’s of thousands of dollars ever summer season...( estimated via math and chair setups x daily rental cost equals over $50,000 per season) $$$$$ talks.....

 

[seabythegrove]

Why can't tourist carry their chairs and umbrellas to the beach each day like the lowly locals?

 

[beachma]

Why can't tourist carry their chairs and umbrellas to the beach each day like the lowly locals?

We bring, carry and remove our chairs and umbrellas every day. There were plenty of tourist who did the same. 30A Shade, the beach chair vendor, occupied ALL of the wet sand line from 6 AM to 6 PM. They stack their chairs, umbrellas and plastic tables at the beach walk/ dune line at the end of the day.We took ours back to the house everyday. They don’t even follow the “leave no trace” regulation. Another big contributung issue that we observed was that many owner’s advertise “daily beach chair/umbrella set up” included in their rental rates. It’s really a sad state of affairs. I have recently had a friend ask for recommendations on where to stay on 30A because she knows we have been doing it for 28 years...I told her we were moving on next year because this year was the last straw. I don’t own, but I have invested thousands of dollars over the years in our family vacations in SOWAL.

 

[steel1man]

We bring, carry and remove our chairs and umbrellas every day. There were plenty of tourist who did the same. 30A Shade, the beach chair vendor, occupied ALL of the wet sand line from 6 AM to 6 PM. They stack their chairs, umbrellas and plastic tables at the beach walk/ dune line at the end of the day.We took ours back to the house everyday. They don’t even follow the “leave no trace” regulation. Another big contributung issue that we observed was that many owner’s advertise “daily beach chair/umbrella set up” included in their rental rates. It’s really a sad state of affairs. I have recently had a friend ask for recommendations on where to stay on 30A because she knows we have been doing it for 28 years...I told her we were moving on next year because this year was the last straw. I don’t own, but I have invested thousands of dollars over the years in our family vacations in SOWAL.

Please copy the affidavit sign notarized and mail in...if we don’t we can’t complain

 

[James Bentwood]

contributung issue that we observed was that many owner’s advertise “daily beach chair/umbrella set up” included in their rental rates.

Not a problelem since there are actually people using them.

 

[Emerald Drifter]

James, you have posted the the answer.

1. If the county owns the property, NO VENDORS AT ALL, even if a visitor wants chairs. It's the only way to stop this.
2. Let the chair vendors contract with the individual BF owners, houses and condo complexes.
3. Once this is in place, all chairs are to be removed by sundown and placed behind the dunes, not at the toe of the dune.

Beachma, I recommend trying out Gulf Shores area, OR the West End of Panama City Beach, depending on where you drive in from.

Next week, vote out the commissioner whose son has a beach "service" and the public MAY have a shot at having 100% of our access back, instead of the current 50% we have now.

 

[James Bentwood]

Vote out Corrupt Cecilia Jones

 

[happy2Bme]

Entitlement isn’t pretty...her twin is Greed.

 

[photocat2005]

Why can't tourist carry their chairs and umbrellas to the beach each day like the lowly locals?

For starters, not all tourists own or can feasibly transport (e.g. flying in) chairs and umbrellas to SoWal.

It has been a few years since we've been to SoWal but heading there soon. I can't say I completely follow all of this controversy but I don't live there.

From a purely visual stand point, the beach is far more attractive with the beach vendor umbrella/chair set-up. Looks far better than the hodge podge of oversized canopy / tent sprawl. That said if I lived there, it would be far more economical and nicer to bring my own - so I get that part.

As tourists, it is far easier and much more enjoyable for us to rent from the "mafia" I guess, so I apologize as we will continue to do so when we visit.

If you don't like beach chairs and umbrellas - go to Hilton Head Island or most of the other East Coast beaches. They are generally not nearly as pretty, sand is rough and very hot (wear shoes) and the Atlantic is a poor substitute for the emerald waters of the gulf. But you'll be free of the evil beach chair / umbrella peeps.

 

[James Bentwood]

For starters, not all tourists own or can feasibly transport (e.g. flying in) chairs and umbrellas to SoWal.

It has been a few years since we've been to SoWal but heading there soon. I can't say I completely follow all of this controversy but I don't live there.

From a purely visual stand point, the beach is far more attractive with the beach vendor umbrella/chair set-up. Looks far better than the hodge podge of oversized canopy / tent sprawl. That said if I lived there, it would be far more economical and nicer to bring my own - so I get that part.

As tourists, it is far easier and much more enjoyable for us to rent from the "mafia" I guess, so I apologize as we will continue to do so when we visit.

If you don't like beach chairs and umbrellas - go to Hilton Head Island or most of the other East Coast beaches. They are generally not nearly as pretty, sand is rough and very hot (wear shoes) and the Atlantic is a poor substitute for the emerald waters of the gulf. But you'll be free of the evil beach chair / umbrella peeps.

Sandestin . Topsail . WaterColor . Seaside . Rosemary Beach . Carillon Beach

More chairs, umbrellas, boards, boats than you know what to do with.