Customary Use and Our 30A Legacy

[FactorFiction]

This is all very familiar. And of course the word MOB is used....to describe CU advocates...more silliness. Reggie, have I ever met you on the street or on the beach? You're not hiding under a fake name are you? I represent myself fully for every thing I say and do...do you? Now don't you think if you are going to call people a liar (me on several occasions) you should be honest (the opposite of lying) about your name/identity? You seem to be a new voice and authority on this subject. Brand new SoWal identity. Who are you really? Do you own property? Beachfront property? Perhaps under another name? Certainly not under the name Reggie Gaskins. Disclaimer: if you are really Reggie Gaskins and a beachfront owner or even a property owner then full apologies and thanks for your insight and "authority" on the subject of private beaches.View attachment 76572

It seems important to remember that who someone is or whether they are a visitor, an inland owner, a beachfront owner, or a restaurant owner really doesn't matter. What matters is the truth and the truth is that roughly 50% of the beaches in Walton County are privately owned. Of those, many cater to tourists and out of state owners. The other roughly 50% is PUBLIC and available to everyone. What is also truth is that this constant targeting of beachfront owners, emphasis on conflict, and general negativity is not helping anyone: Not the beach property owner/entities, not the inland property owners, and certainly not the tourists. I see both sides of this situation, but what I don't understand is why some of the very people who rely most on tourism go to such extremes to scare off the tourists. Makes no sense to me. Before someone says it: NO, I am not suggesting that people lie to tourists. What I am suggesting is that we emphasize where they CAN go to the beach without conflict and that we ALL work together and those things that most of us who live here actually agree on. How sad is it that one issue (albeit an important one) has turned friends into foes, caused constructive advocates for our community to be banned from social media sites, and has literally caused visitors to question whether they are welcomed here? It's time to remember that we got along for years with private ownership of beach parcels and we still agree on MANY, MANY issues confronting our County. Let's more forward instead of running in place over this one issue. Ugh. Rant over.

 

[Reggie Gaskins]

OK Walton, since we've had no direct challenge of the facts here, let's move towards a solution. Fact is, if Beachfront Property Owners eventually win, the militant behavior forced upon both sides will ruin 30A. If CU doctrine becomes a thing, my original post describes a different death of 30A.
The county can't afford:
-The brand damage of this long fight
-The legal fees of all of the separate actions they are spawning
-The cost of purchase of parcel by parcel settlements
-Any eminent domain costs that might develop
-The distraction of resources for many years as these suits they've initiated begin to multiply. They've already initiated over 600 actions, and those will grow.

So what to do?
Wait years for court decision is one option. Or...
Come together as community leaders with ideas and get back to enjoying 30A beaches. Quietly. Together.
There is a very large, and yet heavily censored group in the community, on both sides of the issue, who see ways to communicate to the public how to avoid conflict on the beach with maps, rules, and suggested behavior.
Willing to Jump back in the water Dave? Surf's up!

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

This is the worst click bait thread since "Welcome to Trumps America".

So are you saying Reggie is actually Teresa?

 

[L.C. Bane]

So are you saying Reggie is actually Teresa?

Oh. I don't know anything about that.

 

[FloridaBeachBum]

Facts, not emotional opinion.

2016 February it is clear Walton BCC/TDC inept private beach fortification with off shore sand that did not meet Walton BCC’s own white sand ordinance failed.

2016 February Walton BCC publicly announce veiled reference to customary use of private party as a beach access workshop. The beach fortification failed so all BCC had left is an ancient English doctrine of customary use or eminent domain for public use of private property.

2016 October BCC customary use of private property ordinance adopted by vote, without due process of law.

2017 January BCC reject most of their own Customary Use Committee recommendations. Meeting over many weeks mediated by an attorney hired by Walton BCC. Members selected by the BCC included Mike Huckabee of Blue Mountain Beach, David Bailey of Rosemary Beach, Lisa Boushy of Dune Allen, Beth Clay, Celeste Cobena of Dune Allen, Lisa Evans, Tom McGee (Chair) of Eastern Lake, Tami Mims, Brenda Rees of Eastern Lake, Chuck Schneider and Mike Sturdivant. I didn't see Dave Rauschkolb volunteer his time or make meaningful contribution for this BCC committee. Mike Huckabee and many others did.

2017 April Walton BCC customary use ordinance of private property in force.

2018 March Florida House and Senate legislator super majority, including local Florida Representative Brad Drake, pass customary use due-process legislation, Florida Statute 163.035. CU social media denigrating beachfront private property owners and property rights advocates drastically increase. Including many (intentionally?) false information about quiet title, value of private beach property, and how the Walton economy will collapse without CU.

2018 July Florida FS 163.035 enacted; ensuring Walton BCC includes legal due-process BEFORE enacting a customary use of private property ordinance .

2019 March over 650+ of the 1100+ private property parcel owners intervene to defend their Constitutional property rights against Walton BCC litigation in circuit court (with their own money; unless owners prevail, then Walton tax payers millions).

TDC tourist bed tax revenue since 2015; a year over year INCREASE of about 8% per year. Great, but not a good return on TDC annual $20,000,000 tourist tax payer investment. Tourist money would be better spent buying services and products in Walton - not paying TDC Director $128,000 and multi-millions on marketing.
2019 year to date from 2018 an 18% INCREASE in tourist tax.

At this rate demand for Walton real estate will collapse and businesses in Seaside will be bankrupt by 2020 [said sarcastically]. This is a supply and demand problem and there is NO evidence the county economy or real estate values, before now or without customary use, will collapse. Fact, even after 2010 Deepwater Horizon rental and real estate demand quickly rebounded. Any other facts, not emotional opinions, to the contrary anyone?

 

[Dave Rauschkolb]

 

[FloridaBeachBum]

Mason-Dixon Poll

FACT. The United States of America IS a nation of Individual Rights protected by the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and rule of law; NOT majority (poll) rule.
George Will: Majority rule vs. individual rights Published 8:00 p.m. ET April 16, 2014

Wonder who commissioned the biased poll? "authority to ban the public from the dry sand ... that adjoins their property? " It is not the private property owner banning the public from an adjoining property but the public not respecting and violating the property owners right to exclusive enjoyment of their property when not invited.
I wonder what the poll results would be if the question was;
Do you believe owners of beachfront private property with legal title to the mean high water line have the Constitutional right all private property owners have to exclusive enjoyment of their property?
or Do you think it is acceptable to for the public to occupy private beachfront property with legal title to the mean high water line if the property owner does not invite the public and want exclusive enjoyment of their property for themselves that they pay property taxes on?

Polls are for politicians. Not the Constitution.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

Yes, Florida BeachBum, it is a very sad state of affairs when one THINKS that a poll should trump private property rights or any other individual rights for that matter that are protected by the U.S. Constituition, i.e. protection of minorities from the “masses”.

Dave boy is a better restauranteer than he is a constituitional scholar and makes and markets one hell of a mai-tai to the “masses”.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

Dave Rauschkolb,

Since Daniel doesn’t post on SoWal, why haven’t you commented on one my previous post regarding him since he’s your friend, confidant and the two of you are in the same non-profit group suing private BFOs to take away private property rights? See below:

....How can there be respect when Daniel Uhlfelder stands in front of a townhall county meeting regarding customary use on July 18, 2018 and tell the world that his Jewish grandparents immigrated to America from Europe “because of oppression like this”....in effect pulling out the Nazi card accusing beach front owners as such. His actions show total disrespect for the Holocaust victims. Yeah, respect.

 

[Bob Wells]

Just going to throw this out there. I know there are 2 sides to the issue. Personally I don't see this as being productive, all though I do see it as divisive to the community. That said, the courts will decide what is what and yes it will cost a lot of folks money, including every taxpayer. The horse is clearly been beaten, neither side is blinking and both sides are headed for a collision with each other. I would love to know if the arguements here or on any other social media site has changed 1 persons mind as it relates to customary use?