I believe Walton County did the best thing for our community by making all beaches open to the public, resolving a local problem that was only getting worse with signs, ropes and calls to the law. We needed resolution. But here we are again. Back to the battle of the beaches.
[I believe Walton County commissioners have failed the private property owners and public by declaring all private property public use, not resolving a local problem, but blaming private property owners for the public's bad beach behavior on private property, claiming it is the private property owner's actions that caused the BCC declaration of custom on private property. When it is the public's bad behavior on private property not the private property owner's fault for protecting their property rights, as provided by the Walton Sheriff and Assistant State Attorney approve standard operating procedure (SOP) to mark their property boundaries with a survey ($$$) and signs to protect their property rights. How soon we forget those facts, but if you are not a beachfront owner you probably would not understand.]
I understand Beach front owners concerns. [Do you really? Based on your opinions you are not beachfront owner or pay taxes on beachfront property, you have not walk a mile in a beachfront owner's shoes or had to follow the Sheriff previous SOP, and you do not understand beachfront owners property right concerns or you would not state the following.] But I can't support signs and fences on the beach keeping people from using the beach. [I and most owners I know do not want to mark our property boundaries to protect our property rights. Then stop the public from urinating on our property, letting dogs poop and run wild, encroaching on our constitutional right to enjoy the property we paid for and pay taxes on, etc. Or purchase the property and the private enjoyment rights, pay the property taxes and dedicate those rights to the County and public yourself.] We didn't grow with restricted access to certain beaches with a few exceptions. Yes crowds do bring problems for some beach homeowners. Why can't we address those problems with rules and enforcement? [There are rules today but the TDC tells the myth all beaches are public and Code unEnforcement and Sheriff don't enforce the rules we have now.] Surely there are common sense solutions found in other Beach towns [Which Beach Towns?]. And certainly not all beach front homeowners want to declare their beaches private [No, but in 2016 95% of the beachfront owners declined Walton's beach fortification easement that would have established an artificial ECL boundary on their private property. Surprisingly (not) the BCC shortly thereafter proposed declaring customary use ordinance for public use of private property]. Even though they may wish for better management of vendors and enforcement.
I remember when dogs were banned from the beaches. [Still are on private property. Customary Use Ordinance 2017-10. Valid until July 1, 2018. 5. The following are specifically prohibited for members of the public on the dry sand areas of the beach that are owned by private entities: use of tobacco; possession of animals; erection or use of tents. Not enforced and expect it never will be just like most of the ordinances historically have not.] And we thought that was the worst thing ever to happen. Massive crowds at the BCC meetings. We got past that and it turned out to be a good thing (we didn't think so then) [Disagree. I'm tired of cleaning up after your unleashed dogs. Keep your dogs at home or below the MHWL and off my property which is a property owner's right. No one takes better care of the property than the one who pays for it and owns it with all the rights any other Walton property owner has.] We just need to keep trying to make the beach experience better for all of us. And protect them from all harm whatever that may take. Our [remember 75% of our beaches are privately owned to the MHWL that the owners pay taxes on for that right] beaches are truly beautiful and worth the effort regardless of where you may stand on these issues. Love this beach town from its beaches to its Bay shores. A special place to live, work and play. [Agree. Respect personal private property rights, like you want your property to be respected, and enforce the public law and property rights and all will be better, except for the bad public actors who only want what they want, how they want it, when they want it, have someone else pay for it, and to heck with the private enjoyment of the owner's property rights.]
[Stop blaming and vilifying the private property owners and place the blame for the BCC declaration of customary use of private property where it belongs; the bad public behavior on private property, although bad public behavior won't change with customary use even if it succeeds. And blame the inept Walton BCC for their failure to manage growth on the public and private beaches. What if private property owners prevail? Then what? I and many owners will not be so gracious to permit public use of our private property and will enforce our property rights to the fullest extent of the law from now on. Maybe the BCC should find another way other than the courts (as the Plaintiff with the high burden of proof to show private property owners right of private enjoyment protected by the US Constitution is inferior to public use of private property based on a narrow legal doctrine of custom with multiple elements of evidence) because it’s many millions of all Walton tax payer’s dollars at risk that could be spent better on infrastructure.]
