By Joyce Owen
One of the area?s oldest neighborhoods is getting a liposuction of sorts. The Daughettes Subdivision?s canals are being dredged to remove the silt that has accumulated. ?Having an opportunity in a residential area in South Walton to launch boats is a rarity that will draw interest from buyers,? Bobby Johnson, a real estate agent who lives in Daughettes, said. When the canals are dredged to a fi ve foot depth to provide deepwater access for the community, Johnson believes, true boating enthusiasts will be attracted to the community. Many people ask where they can launch a boat in South Walton, but there aren?t many options. The boat ramp just north of the U.S. Highway 331 Bridge is not protected and those launching a boat must deal with the currents, Johnson said. Cessna Park on County Road 393 offers better access to launch boats, but passage to the Choctawhatchee Bay is more difficult to navigate.
The benefit to dredging Daughettes? canals is the canals? access to the Intercoastal Waterway.
Many boats in the neighborhood have been stored for years because the canals were so shallow only canoes or kayaks could navigate them.
?Right now a typical boat can?t get in the canals, but once the dredging is complete, I can go anywhere in the world from my backyard. It?s pretty amazing that they are doing this,? Johnson said.
The subdivision was developed about 50 years ago and has long been an area where blue-collar workers lived, resident Tom Pickett said.
?These are the folks that make it possible for folks to live on County Road 30A,? Pickett said.
Daughettes, located between U.S. Highway 98 and the Choctawhatchee Bay, once offered deepwater access to the Bay and beyond. The original developer dug two canals from the Bay and planned yacht basins and waterfront property, ?priced for the man of moderate means,? according to a sales brochure printed then.
Once road runoff and silt fi lled Little Canal and Baker Canal, few boats could navigate the shallow canals. There have been times the water was so low that people could walk across the canals, Pickett said.
Although Daughettes does not have a homeowners association, it does have active property owners like Pickett and his neighbor Tom Stein who want to use the canals as they were intended.
Six years ago, Pickett and his neighbors asked the Board of County Commissioners to pull a permit to dredge the canals.
Pickett was a ?bulldog? when it came to getting the permit, Johnson said.
?Tom was persistent, when it came to dealing with the beaucracy. I would have given up, but he did not,? Johnson said.
Pickett dealt with local and state officials trying to persuade them that the project had merit.
?At first, the county commission said no, but we persisted,? Pickett said.
Two hurricane seasons brought additional delays. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was only processing emergency permits, but Pickett proved the dredge material from the canals could be used to help rebuild the badly eroded beaches. Eventually his efforts were rewarded and the permit was approved.
After years of negotiation and delays, Pickett anticipates work will begin in a few weeks.
He has the spoil sites to hold the material that is dredged, the contractor has been hired and equipment readied.
The final obstacle is money. Canal front property owners were asked to pay a $1,200 dredging assessment.
?We always hoped to get 80 percent participation, but got 72 percent. Some were waiting to see if we got the permit. Now we have it and we only need fi ve more people to pay,? he said.
One of the area?s oldest neighborhoods is getting a liposuction of sorts. The Daughettes Subdivision?s canals are being dredged to remove the silt that has accumulated. ?Having an opportunity in a residential area in South Walton to launch boats is a rarity that will draw interest from buyers,? Bobby Johnson, a real estate agent who lives in Daughettes, said. When the canals are dredged to a fi ve foot depth to provide deepwater access for the community, Johnson believes, true boating enthusiasts will be attracted to the community. Many people ask where they can launch a boat in South Walton, but there aren?t many options. The boat ramp just north of the U.S. Highway 331 Bridge is not protected and those launching a boat must deal with the currents, Johnson said. Cessna Park on County Road 393 offers better access to launch boats, but passage to the Choctawhatchee Bay is more difficult to navigate.
The benefit to dredging Daughettes? canals is the canals? access to the Intercoastal Waterway.
Many boats in the neighborhood have been stored for years because the canals were so shallow only canoes or kayaks could navigate them.
?Right now a typical boat can?t get in the canals, but once the dredging is complete, I can go anywhere in the world from my backyard. It?s pretty amazing that they are doing this,? Johnson said.
The subdivision was developed about 50 years ago and has long been an area where blue-collar workers lived, resident Tom Pickett said.
?These are the folks that make it possible for folks to live on County Road 30A,? Pickett said.
Daughettes, located between U.S. Highway 98 and the Choctawhatchee Bay, once offered deepwater access to the Bay and beyond. The original developer dug two canals from the Bay and planned yacht basins and waterfront property, ?priced for the man of moderate means,? according to a sales brochure printed then.
Once road runoff and silt fi lled Little Canal and Baker Canal, few boats could navigate the shallow canals. There have been times the water was so low that people could walk across the canals, Pickett said.
Although Daughettes does not have a homeowners association, it does have active property owners like Pickett and his neighbor Tom Stein who want to use the canals as they were intended.
Six years ago, Pickett and his neighbors asked the Board of County Commissioners to pull a permit to dredge the canals.
Pickett was a ?bulldog? when it came to getting the permit, Johnson said.
?Tom was persistent, when it came to dealing with the beaucracy. I would have given up, but he did not,? Johnson said.
Pickett dealt with local and state officials trying to persuade them that the project had merit.
?At first, the county commission said no, but we persisted,? Pickett said.
Two hurricane seasons brought additional delays. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was only processing emergency permits, but Pickett proved the dredge material from the canals could be used to help rebuild the badly eroded beaches. Eventually his efforts were rewarded and the permit was approved.
After years of negotiation and delays, Pickett anticipates work will begin in a few weeks.
He has the spoil sites to hold the material that is dredged, the contractor has been hired and equipment readied.
The final obstacle is money. Canal front property owners were asked to pay a $1,200 dredging assessment.
?We always hoped to get 80 percent participation, but got 72 percent. Some were waiting to see if we got the permit. Now we have it and we only need fi ve more people to pay,? he said.
