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florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
Thanks. I am busy, but I think of a "busy body" as someone who keeps notes on all the neighbors' coming and goings, who visited, when, what they were wearing, etc.

Back to the more important part, in the Code which I posted above, it states that no new seawalls were allowed to be built on the Bay. Did I miss where they changed that policy in the Code, and failed to update their policies in writing? How is this development building a seawall if they are not allowed? Just curious?

If this code you mention is accurate, it is insane, and needs to be changed. I have an old map of Santa Rosa drawn about 1900 by Thomas Collins, and shows land that is no longer there. Erosion is a big problem, and property owners should have the right to protect their own property from erosion. Which, by the way, I have on a pdf file and could sell if anyone is interested! It's a 2 sided map, very frail, but very interesting.
 

florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
I really like Florida Girl! I could not have said it better myself, each time I read your replies I was cheering you on.

Also looking out for your neighbor is one thing, but taking pictures and posting them on an obvious accidental situation is over the top. If you want to check on the legitimacy of the work & permits, fine. But don't take pictures of a unfortunate situation and a poor worker, and post them and then open it up to ridicule.

Seawalls are meant to stop land erosion. That is a good thing, I thought. It looks like they have the required fencing up, also.

One of these days I'll run for a county office!
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,706
3,339
Sowal
If this code you mention is accurate, it is insane, and needs to be changed. I have an old map of Santa Rosa drawn about 1900 by Thomas Collins, and shows land that is no longer there. Erosion is a big problem, and property owners should have the right to protect their own property from erosion.

If the land was accurately depicted as there in 1900 and is no longer there, a code banning seawalls is not the reason for its absence.

Improper construction techniques and land use are............also know as the sort of thing concerned citizens report and post pictures of!
 

florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
If the land was accurately depicted as there in 1900 and is no longer there, a code banning seawalls is not the reason for its absence.

Improper construction techniques and land use are............also know as the sort of thing concerned citizens report and post pictures of!

What construction? There wasn't anything there! Those who survived, had seawalls!
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,644
1,773
If this code you mention is accurate, it is insane, and needs to be changed. I have an old map of Santa Rosa drawn about 1900 by Thomas Collins, and shows land that is no longer there. Erosion is a big problem, and property owners should have the right to protect their own property from erosion. Which, by the way, I have on a pdf file and could sell if anyone is interested! It's a 2 sided map, very frail, but very interesting.


Two points: First, the law doesn't state that seawalls cannot be built on Bayfront property. You can build one away from the waterline, on your land. In this particular case, the track hoe was in the water, apparently digging it out to build a seawall.

Secondly, the property already had some protection at the water's edge, and the guy operating the track hoe was removing the only legal protection that the property had. Talk about smart.

If you doubt the accuracy of the information, please read it for yourself.

It can be found in the Walton County Comprehensive Plan, in Policy C-3.1.1 which deals with seawalls along the Bay. Please read it. That would be on page 59 of 133.

Walton County Comprehensive Plan, pertaining to seawalls along the Bay.

"Policy C-3.1.1: New seawalls and upland retaining walls along Choctawhatchee Bay for existing lots of record in residential subdivisions shall be permitted in accordance with shoreline stabilization programs for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Newly platted subdivision lots along Choctawhatchee Bay must be of sufficient depth to meet the 50' buffering requirement of Policy C- 3.2.1.b. These newly platted lots are allowed to have upland retaining walls built landward of the mean high water line; however, new seawalls and new bulkheads are not allowed.16"
 
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florida girl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 3, 2006
1,453
67
Santa Rosa Beach
I looked again at the photos; I don't see any existing protection. I think he/she is smart to try to build protection. But then I?ve only lived on the bay since 1964 so I guess I don?t know what I?m talking about.
 

Miss Kitty

Meow
Jun 10, 2005
47,011
1,131
71
:rotfl: ...can you spell comic relief? I can...j e s s i f u n n!!!! :D
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,644
1,773
I looked again at the photos; I don't see any existing protection. I think he/she is smart to try to build protection.
the reason you don't see the protection which was in place is due to the track hoe operator removing it from the water and sandy beach prior to the photos. They loaded the materials into construction dumpsters.

You may think he is smart to build protection, but he took away the legal protection he had, leaving the lots exposed to more erosion, since according to the Comp Plan
rtft.gif
, any upland retention wall has to be built landward of the high water line.
 
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