Provided by Fred Buehler (thank you, Fred) for those asking for a review of the meeting. Really good summary:
Summary of TDC Vendor Annual Review Meeting, September 20, 2018
Brian Kellenberger, the TDC Director of Beach Operations, moderated meeting and stated the goal was to produce a list of recommended changes to Code Enforcement. The audience was made up of both vendors and concerned citizens.
Brian recited various statistics on permits issued, code enforcement contacts, etc. Stated he has 11 enforcement staff with 4 on the beach at any one time.
Brian stated that the TDC currently collects trash on about 60% of the beach and the legal department is working on language with BFOs to allow access to all beaches. That language involves saying the county won’t use historical TDC garbage collection as an argument for allowing Customary Use of their beaches. He hopes to get this issue resolved in a month or so.
Brian also reminded everyone that the
TDC Beach Management Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month at 9 AM in the South Walton Annex Board Room and the TDC Destination Improvements Committee meets the second Thursday Of each month at 1 PM in the South Walton Annex Board Room. All meetings are open to the public.
Brian opened it up for discussion with the main topics as follows:
- Many saw a need for better code enforcement on the beach.
- The need for a managed vendor program for public beaches was suggested by several people in the audience. Brian has seen that kind of system work at both Walton County resort managed areas and at other communities around the state. That might include ideas such as contracted vendors, assigning one vendor per beach access, requiring vendors to maintain a presence during the hours of operation, not setting up chairs and umbrellas until the customer has come to the beach, removing setups when a customer leaves for the day, negotiated contracts and standards of operation.
- Brian suggested there is still a need for a Vendor Industry Association. This would facilitate the beach vendor’s policing themselves and establishing a code of conduct.
- Challenges include chairs at water’s edge, ghost chairs, rubber bands & trash on beach, storage of chairs & umbrellas on beach, location of vendor zones, different property ownerships at the various beach access points, and confusion on 22-60 (d) (8) of the Walton County Municipal Code (authorization of beach vending on private and public beaches).
The next scheduled meeting to discuss new vendor management rules will be a workshop to discuss proposed changes on September 25th at 5:00 pm at the South Walton Annex.