Commercial On Dalton Drive Approved [lawsuit filed]

[Gingersnap]

www.waltonpolitics.weebly.com/blog

Attend a public hearing on Tuesday, January 10th starting at 2:30 p.m. at the South Walton Annex where the Board of County Commissioners will hear the continuance of the Snappy Turtle/ 30A Trading Co. Development. You would think all five commissioners would be voting but No! The county attorney has ruled that since the first part of the hearing was before the election, only the three commissioners who heard the first part of the development proposal will be able to hear the second part.and vote on a development proposal that will add yet another Snappy Turtle to 30A.
The developer attorney continued the hearing until after the election for medical reasons. We wish the attorney well but we do not believe this is correct on the part of the county.

All citizens interested in 30A should attend this hearing and provide their testimony.

The proposed development is located on the south side of 30A just west of the Eastern Lake bridge.
You may remember this area as the failed Hampton Inn hotel area of 30A.

Citizens, it is now up to you to determine the destiny of our beloved scenic 30A. Coney Island or
the unique Beaches of South Walton ?

 

[Mike Jones]

Sounds like a bad spot for a business but It is not a snappy turtle and it is not on the parcel which the Hampton Inn was proposed and has no relevance.

Seems wrong to be making an opinion of we don't approve and not put names to who we is. Who is we Gingersnap are you part of we?

 

[Gingersnap]

We? The only reference I saw to the word "we" was "we wish the attorney well".

Your guess is as good as mine as to who "we" is but I can't think of anyone who would wish someone ill except ...well, never mind that.

If I had an issue mine would be ...why do we hold countywide elections if the county attorney is going to tell new BCC members they can't vote on an issue that previously came before the board?

P.S. You're really good at asking for names so let me ask you this...are you the partner of an attorney who has previously been used by the County and are you a member of the WCSBA?

 

[Bob Wells]

www.waltonpolitics.weebly.com/blog

Attend a public hearing on Tuesday, January 10th starting at 2:30 p.m. at the South Walton Annex where the Board of County Commissioners will hear the continuance of the Snappy Turtle/ 30A Trading Co. Development. You would think all five commissioners would be voting but No! The county attorney has ruled that since the first part of the hearing was before the election, only the three commissioners who heard the first part of the development proposal will be able to hear the second part.and vote on a development proposal that will add yet another Snappy Turtle to 30A.
The developer attorney continued the hearing until after the election for medical reasons. We wish the attorney well but we do not believe this is correct on the part of the county.

All citizens interested in 30A should attend this hearing and provide their testimony.

The proposed development is located on the south side of 30A just west of the Eastern Lake bridge.
You may remember this area as the failed Hampton Inn hotel area of 30A.

Citizens, it is now up to you to determine the destiny of our beloved scenic 30A. Coney Island or
the unique Beaches of South Walton ?

Isn't this being written by Ms Meadows? I could be wrong, there could be multiple writers.

 

[Gingersnap]

Isn't this being written by Ms Meadows? I could be wrong, there could be multiple writers.

Why does it matter? I don't know that there are multiple writers but I don't know that there isn't either. After the hatchet job/character assassination done on Ms. Meadows during the primaries, I appreciate the fact she is even willing to be involved in County politics.

@Mike Jones, The comment said "in the area" of the failed Hampton Inn proposal.

My own question has been answered. The original hearing was a quasi judicial hearing. The commissioners serve as "a jury". The case was continued and now only three "jurors" have heard all of the testimony. Inserting 2 new "jurors" that have not heard ALL of the testimony would not follow court procedures.

There is always a way around the LDC and Comp Plan.

 

[Gingersnap]

What coulda/shoulda happened here in my opinion is the developer should have been made to start the process over after the 2 new Commissioners came on board. Rather than that happening the County Attorney determined only the 3 previous Commissioners could vote.

I suppose the fact T. Anderson took a $500.00 campaign contribution from the developer coupled with the engineer donating $1000.00 it wouldn't look good for him to vote on the issue. I also assume that 2 previous EX planning department employees working on the project is a moot point as well.

 

[Lake View Too]

The main reason this project should be denied is that it is setting a terrible precedent. I There is a major flaw in the comprehensive code that allows parcels zoned Village Mixed Use to completely dump all the requirements for that designation, if there are smaller than 2.5 acres. This means they can be completely commercial which completely undermines the intent of the comprehensive plan. In plain English, all parcels that are designated VMU, which means partially residential and compatible with the neighboring residential parcels, will now be completely commercial. This is a list of just some of the objections that have been raised against this project:

This is a precedent build on the south side. This will dictate what’s


acceptable on the south side of 30a in residential neighborhoods.

This will be the largest single use commercial space anywhere on


30a and it abuts on 50% of it’s sides residential homes.

Compatibility - Intensity and height are both incompatible. The

intensity as measured by Floor Area Ratio is the highest in the area.

Height - there’s nothing close to this height in the area.

Street neighborhood - This is a neighborhood community. The

neighborhood will be effected by noise pollution, light pollution,

traffic, hours of operation

Traffic - where will delivery trucks enter and exit? Guessing most will

avoid the dangerous intersection and come through the

neighborhood.

Drainage - Road drainage - who’s responsible for road drainage

since the road is paved? Drainage was one of the reasons the

Hampton was denied because this are is part of a critical flood

area. Dalton Drive is a dirt and gravel road. By adding the

paved area for parking and at the end of Dalton, the runoff from

the pavement will exacerbate flooding and create more flood

problems in an already critical flood area. With Eastern Lake in

proximity, the runoff has the potential to affect Eastern Lake

and it’s tributaries.

Bike Path - Dangerous intersection with curve in road and bike

traffic crossing here.

There are county signs indicating the road is a dead end and that

the last 140 feet of Dalton is not county maintained. That last

part of the road is privately owned by Dalton residents.



I don't know exactly who composed this list of objections, but it is circulating on emails and I agree with all of it's objections. Mostly, if this project is approved, it will open the floodgates of commercialization south of 30-A, with so much more traffic problems, you will not believe the mess that will be generated. The property was designated Village Mixed Use as a way to keep it compatible with residential areas. This is simply wrong and a senseless abomination on what peaceful neighborhoods we have left along our beach community

 

[Jimmy T]

The main reason this project should be denied is that it is setting a terrible precedent. I There is a major flaw in the comprehensive code that allows parcels zoned Village Mixed Use to completely dump all the requirements for that designation, if there are smaller than 2.5 acres. This means they can be completely commercial which completely undermines the intent of the comprehensive plan. In plain English, all parcels that are designated VMU, which means partially residential and compatible with the neighboring residential parcels, will now be completely commercial. This is a list of just some of the objections that have been raised against this project:

This is a precedent build on the south side. This will dictate what’s


acceptable on the south side of 30a in residential neighborhoods.

This will be the largest single use commercial space anywhere on


30a and it abuts on 50% of it’s sides residential homes.

Compatibility - Intensity and height are both incompatible. The

intensity as measured by Floor Area Ratio is the highest in the area.

Height - there’s nothing close to this height in the area.

Street neighborhood - This is a neighborhood community. The

neighborhood will be effected by noise pollution, light pollution,

traffic, hours of operation

Traffic - where will delivery trucks enter and exit? Guessing most will

avoid the dangerous intersection and come through the

neighborhood.

Drainage - Road drainage - who’s responsible for road drainage

since the road is paved? Drainage was one of the reasons the

Hampton was denied because this are is part of a critical flood

area. Dalton Drive is a dirt and gravel road. By adding the

paved area for parking and at the end of Dalton, the runoff from

the pavement will exacerbate flooding and create more flood

problems in an already critical flood area. With Eastern Lake in

proximity, the runoff has the potential to affect Eastern Lake

and it’s tributaries.

Bike Path - Dangerous intersection with curve in road and bike

traffic crossing here.

There are county signs indicating the road is a dead end and that

the last 140 feet of Dalton is not county maintained. That last

part of the road is privately owned by Dalton residents.



I don't know exactly who composed this list of objections, but it is circulating on emails and I agree with all of it's objections. Mostly, if this project is approved, it will open the floodgates of commercialization south of 30-A, with so much more traffic problems, you will not believe the mess that will be generated. The property was designated Village Mixed Use as a way to keep it compatible with residential areas. This is simply wrong and a senseless abomination on what peaceful neighborhoods we have left along our beach community

How do we close this loophole in the comprehensive code?

 

[Gingersnap]

How do we close this loophole in the comprehensive code?

One solution is to stop electing/recycling the people who got it to this point.

 

[Lake View Too]

How do we close this loophole in the comprehensive code?

This is something that would have to be addressed by the BCC. They would have to have the will to do this. The people on the board only see this as a decrease in revenues. The way I see it, the majority of the south of the county is owned by absentee owners. They are oblivious to legitimate concerns, as long as they get their rent money. Also, they don't vote. There is a comparatively small contingency of full time resident voters who actually live in South Walton and have no one representing them on the board. I refuse to end this post in pessimism. One tactic I could potentially see is to get the uber-rich absentee owners to gain awareness of the problems (perhaps through their realtors, far-fetched, I know) and to somehow unite their resources to get aggressive lawyers to challenge the county at every "battleground". At this Dalton Street showdown, locals are "passing the hat" to raise around $3000 for a local lawyer to attempt a challenge, but that is simply not enough.