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seagrovegirl

Beach Fanatic
Feb 9, 2008
3,885
454
Historic Old Point Washington
My vote is for any commissioner that will do the right thing....regardless if planning and zoning screwed up and they are trying to save their A$$ and keep themselves out of lawsuits. My vote is for a commissioner that will "reorganize" p & z ....it is a mess and will cost us mucho tax dollars in lawsuits the way things are going.
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
Sandestin residents may not have a voice in that because it was approved as part of the DRI, and "their" wall was reportedly built without permission from the County.

I agree that the wall needs to be opened- just reporting what I have heard.;-)
 
From what I understand, the wall which was erected to block Driftwood owners from using the road, was built without permit. The original DRI shows that road open, and anyone can tell you that still today, a project of that size would not be allowed to be developed without only one road in and out, especially when said road is known to flood under heavy rain. I'd like to see the permit issued to build the wall which closed off the road. That road, as a secondary road in and out of Driftwood, was part of the infrastructure plans which was submitted to the County in order to receive approval.

For all of you people wanting to blame Alan or Driftwood HOA for the lawsuit, perhaps you should point those fingers at Sandestin.


So does anyone from Driftwood know if simply taking down the wall and allowing ingress/egress through Sandestin would be acceptable as settlement in the suit?
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
So does anyone from Driftwood know if simply taking down the wall and allowing ingress/egress through Sandestin would be acceptable as settlement in the suit?

This is what I was referencing- many Sandestin people would rather choke than let people have access through the 'hood. They are NOT sympathetic to the plight of Driftwood.
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
I don't know Sandestin like I should. Isn't Burnt Pine real close to the wall in question? If this is a question of secondary ingress/egress it would appear logical on its face to turn the wall into a gate that would be operated in the storm conditions that are the basis for the suit.

Yes.
 

Interested Girl

Beach Fanatic
Aug 15, 2008
465
58
I have decided to vote for Alan. Many of you believe him to be the best candidtae for the job. I really don't know about that but I do believe that he will accomplish a peronal goal that I have. He will absolutely halt development.

His personality of aggressive behavior will absolutely run all of the developers out of Walton County. He is a true one issue guy regardless of all he says while cleaning up his reputation as a hot head. I saw that on the Dem site on their recordings. Hands waving in the air and shouting at Chairman Jones. I thought he would explode. Just what we need to grind the economy to a total halt.

I know that the fireworks will fly- and it will be like Thunder and lightning from above.

ALAN IS THE MAN .
 
Bay Villas to Driftwood Connection?

I'm trying to get up to speed. Is the connector road that is the subject of dispute the one shown on Plat Book 8, Page 19, O.R. Walton County? I can see the two roads sweeping by one another. I noticed the note in the bottom left corner of the Plat that talks to Bay Villas perpetual use easments to the adjoing property can be found at Sections 5 and 7 of the Declarations of Covenants. There's also a small note about Bay Villas altering a drainage easement on adjoing property.

Does Right of Way mean they are to remain open or is it just for purposes of establishing easement? Thanks
 

wrobert

Beach Fanatic
Nov 21, 2007
4,134
575
61
DeFuniak Springs
www.defuniaksprings.com
I'm trying to get up to speed. Is the connector road that is the subject of dispute the one shown on Plat Book 8, Page 19, O.R. Walton County? I can see the two roads sweeping by one another. I noticed the note in the bottom left corner of the Plat that talks to Bay Villas perpetual use easments to the adjoing property can be found at Sections 5 and 7 of the Declarations of Covenants. There's also a small note about Bay Villas altering a drainage easement on adjoing property.

Does Right of Way mean they are to remain open or is it just for purposes of establishing easement? Thanks


Can someone do a better job of explaining this DRI concept to me? We had a code case not too long back against Sandestin over some amusement park/carnival they were operating. They had built a building without a permit and there were some questions about the safety of some electrical stuff they had put in place. Their argument was based on this DRI thing and kept saying that since they were under a DRI and when they came into existence there was no WC Building Department, their DRI did not require them to get a building permit. They still had to follow all the codes, just get their own engineer to certify that it was done. Needless to say, that did not fly because they were operating a water slide using extension cords and no one could even begin to see how any of that was safe so we had them take it down and get some permits. But that DRI thing was the main point that they kept trying to use to tell us the county had no authority to regulate them. Basically they said that they just had to operate under the rules that were in place when the DRI came into existence back in 1976 or so.
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,648
1,773
So does anyone from Driftwood know if simply taking down the wall and allowing ingress/egress through Sandestin would be acceptable as settlement in the suit?

I am not privy to the lawsuit and I don't own in Driftwood, but from what I've heard at public meetings, is that the wall blocking the road is only one aspect of the real problem which is the lack of adequate and promised drainage. If the drainage infrastructure was installed as engineered, people's yards wouldn't have moats around them, driveways and brick mailbox posts wouldn't be undermined and washed away, waterfalls wouldn't exist during normal rains, etc. The wall is a problem because when it rains hard enough, since Sandestin erected the wall blocking the other road, the only road in and out is covered in water from the higher level of the bayou. How would you liked to be trapped in your home, with rising water in a real storm, knowing that some @ssholes built a wall, blocking your only viable way out?

I have decided to vote for Alan. Many of you believe him to be the best candidtae for the job. I really don't know about that but I do believe that he will accomplish a peronal goal that I have. He will absolutely halt development.

His personality of aggressive behavior will absolutely run all of the developers out of Walton County. He is a true one issue guy regardless of all he says while cleaning up his reputation as a hot head. I saw that on the Dem site on their recordings. Hands waving in the air and shouting at Chairman Jones. I thought he would explode. Just what we need to grind the economy to a total halt.

I know that the fireworks will fly- and it will be like Thunder and lightning from above.

ALAN IS THE MAN .

Wow, you really don't know much about Alan or his involvement with Driftwood, or his beliefs. I don't want to speak for Mr Osborne, but I can tell you that simply because he wants the developer who allegedly falsified documents in order to received the Development Order, doesn't mean that he is anti-development. I can see how a person who hasn't taken the time to try and understand the situation at Driftwood, or Alan as a candidate, might come up with such a crazy idea as you present, but anyone who has taken time to educate themselves on the matter at hand, would clearly understand that Alan is not "anti-development." He is for playing with the rules given. Unfortunately, some developers who choose to take short cuts, thereby potentially harming all buyers and renters in their development, don't deserve to be developers, and I for one don't want them here in the first place.

Furthermore, from what I understand, Alan Osborne is willing to drop the lawsuit against the County if the County will hold responsible, the developer and the County Engineer, who signed off with approval of the allegedly falsified documents stating that the infrastructure was properly installed as designed. He has allowed the County to escape unharmed from what would probably be a multi-million dollar out of Court settlement (the County doesn't want to go to Court on this one b/c they know they will lose in a heartbeat). He wouldn't even seek to recover his legal expenses from the last four years, nor his hundreds of hours of investigation. He has stated all along that the County has been given the chance to do the right thing, yet they are being very stubborn. Either the County can pay the $10-15 million to correct the problem, plus the settlement of the lawsuit, or, they can hold accountable, the people who were wrong, and let them pay to bring the project up to speed as designed.

wrobert, a DRI is a "Development of Regional Impact," which is a project due to location or perhaps size, will affect more than the County in which it exists. Sandestin, for instance, is located in Walton County, but it pulls traffic from Destin (Okaloosa County), so it is a DRI. I won't go into all of the legalities of a DRI and permitting, but there can be exemptions on some things such as permits required if something is included in a DRI. Doesn't mean they are exempt from following Code, but just that they could be covered under a larger permit for the DRI. It wouldn't be much different than Seaside applying for an entertainment permit which would cover multiple events, so that each time they show a movie on the lawn, a permit isn't required. (not the best example, but you get the point.)
 
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