By DOTTY NIST
Court judgments involving the owners of three Blue Mountain Beach parcels have provided for beach property south of their lots, extending to the mean high water line (MHWL), to become the property of those owners.
The beach property is located in Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1 south of Lot 5, Block 12, Lot 2, Block 12, and the west 70 feet of Lot 8, Block 10.
Walton County Circuit Court Judge David Green issued final summary judgments on the beach property on Sept. 15.
This was following hearings in which arguments were presented on behalf of owners of the three lots that each of those owners was entitled to ownership of the property to the south.
In June and July 2023, the property owners had filed complaint lawsuits in court against Blue Gulf Corporation, an entity that had been dissolved in 1973, according to information provided in the complaints.
According to the final judgments, a plat recorded in October 1948 had stated that West Florida Development Company was “fee simple” (outright) owner at that time of all properties within the Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1, including the property “south of the bluff line” at the southern boundary of the subdivision extending to the MHWL along the Gulf of Mexico.
The judgments also speak of a covenant recorded in 1955 in Walton County official records stating that all deeds covering lots sold to individual owners in the subdivision provide for “all of the beach area lying between Block 10, 11, 12, and 13” in the subdivision and the gulf to be conveyed to the owners of the lots and their successors in the four blocks at no cost to those parties—in the event of neither West Florida Development Company, nor a successor to that corporation holding title to the beach area, being in existence.
The covenant contains the restriction that owners of the beach property must “not interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of said beach area by any owner of property in Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1,” per the covenant language.
According to the judgments, Blue Gulf Corporation, a successor of West Florida Development Company, like the latter, “does not exist.”
Judge Green made findings in the judgments that, “There is no evidence of a successor to Defendant, Blue Gulf Corporation, and…all of the members of the last known Board of Directors of the defendant are deceased.”
He also found that there was “no genuine issue as to any material fact or law” alleged in the complaints.
No party had presented evidence in opposition to the lot owners’ filings.
The notices for the hearings on the beach property had been for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 15 via ZOOM. However the hearings began early and were concluded prior to 9:30 a.m.
The judgments appointed attorney Hayward Dykes Jr. as trustee for the dissolved development company and successor corporation and tasked him with officially transferring ownership by deed of the beach property to the lot owners. The conveyance is subject to the restriction providing for use of the beach area by property owners in the subdivision.
Similar summary judgments had been issued in 2007 in connection with three neighboring parcels in the Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13 on an additional parcel in the same subdivision. The owner of the parcel, Lot 3, Block 13, is also seeking a judgment providing for conveyance of beach property south of the lot, extending to the MHWL, to the property owner.
Court judgments involving the owners of three Blue Mountain Beach parcels have provided for beach property south of their lots, extending to the mean high water line (MHWL), to become the property of those owners.
The beach property is located in Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1 south of Lot 5, Block 12, Lot 2, Block 12, and the west 70 feet of Lot 8, Block 10.
Walton County Circuit Court Judge David Green issued final summary judgments on the beach property on Sept. 15.
This was following hearings in which arguments were presented on behalf of owners of the three lots that each of those owners was entitled to ownership of the property to the south.
In June and July 2023, the property owners had filed complaint lawsuits in court against Blue Gulf Corporation, an entity that had been dissolved in 1973, according to information provided in the complaints.
According to the final judgments, a plat recorded in October 1948 had stated that West Florida Development Company was “fee simple” (outright) owner at that time of all properties within the Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1, including the property “south of the bluff line” at the southern boundary of the subdivision extending to the MHWL along the Gulf of Mexico.
The judgments also speak of a covenant recorded in 1955 in Walton County official records stating that all deeds covering lots sold to individual owners in the subdivision provide for “all of the beach area lying between Block 10, 11, 12, and 13” in the subdivision and the gulf to be conveyed to the owners of the lots and their successors in the four blocks at no cost to those parties—in the event of neither West Florida Development Company, nor a successor to that corporation holding title to the beach area, being in existence.
The covenant contains the restriction that owners of the beach property must “not interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of said beach area by any owner of property in Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1,” per the covenant language.
According to the judgments, Blue Gulf Corporation, a successor of West Florida Development Company, like the latter, “does not exist.”
Judge Green made findings in the judgments that, “There is no evidence of a successor to Defendant, Blue Gulf Corporation, and…all of the members of the last known Board of Directors of the defendant are deceased.”
He also found that there was “no genuine issue as to any material fact or law” alleged in the complaints.
No party had presented evidence in opposition to the lot owners’ filings.
The notices for the hearings on the beach property had been for 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 15 via ZOOM. However the hearings began early and were concluded prior to 9:30 a.m.
The judgments appointed attorney Hayward Dykes Jr. as trustee for the dissolved development company and successor corporation and tasked him with officially transferring ownership by deed of the beach property to the lot owners. The conveyance is subject to the restriction providing for use of the beach area by property owners in the subdivision.
Similar summary judgments had been issued in 2007 in connection with three neighboring parcels in the Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision No. 1
A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13 on an additional parcel in the same subdivision. The owner of the parcel, Lot 3, Block 13, is also seeking a judgment providing for conveyance of beach property south of the lot, extending to the MHWL, to the property owner.
