Thought I would start a new discussion thread on what appears to be a very hot topic. Any comments?
I am appreciative of this new thread; because the speed limit discussion is too narrow of a topic; and I think some of the readers who would otherwise agree carts are bad of 30A are put off by the "conspiracy theories." (It's not a theory, by the way. I have seen the petitions. There is big big money to be made by changing the speed limit.)
There are several issues I can think of. And I am eager and interested to hear others' opinions.
My first concern has to do with principle and economics. 30-A is several things. Among those, it is a road, a concept of how to live and vacation, and a community with an economy. Try to find a national chain or franchise here, and you will be hard pressed. One fellow settler described the area to me as, "the last bastion of small business and entrepreneurship." I think you can launch a business in a lot of places. But, I love that statement.
I love living here. I love chatting up the guy behind the counter, who moved here and owns his shop. It's great; and it's part of what brings people back time-and-time-again. We have a soul. We are a community. We have mutual appreciation. We are interconnected.
The golf cart rental industry in our area consists of companies either headquartered in Destin or Defuniak Springs, run by individuals domiciled in those cities, or both. Revenue from rentals does not go to locals. Dollars made on carts don't go back into the community. They don't end up in the cash tills of the "last bastion of small business." Every dollar spent on cart rentals is a dollar not spent in Seaside, Rosemary, Grayton, etc. Whether you are talking about an $800 expense eating into the visitors' budgets, or the fact the company owners don't support local business, that money is gone from 30-A.
Secondly, South Walton County doesn't - and shouldn't- have the infrastructure to accommodate golf carts (or golf carts by another name) as leisure transport.
When Grayton, Seagrove, and Inlet Beach were settled, those early visitors likely came in something like a Ford 4-door Super Deluxe. One car. That was sufficient. And they had a parcel of land the size of a football field to park it on.
When Seaside was dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners likely had in mind a family coming down in a Chevrolet Caprice Classic station wagon with faux wood sides. One car... 1 (uno caro)
When Rosemary Beach and other more recent developments were dreamt up and plotted out, the town planners required parking for 2 cars. As time went on, and developers got creative, that began to be interpreted as parking space for one midsize SUV and a Mini Cooper.
The issue becomes compounded when you take into account the fact a vacation rental is often shared by multiple families.
What started as a likely average of 1.25 cars per house, now probably runs 2.5 cars per house on an infinitely smaller piece of dirt. And that is before the golf cart gets delivered. To add insult to injury, Suburbans and other XLSUVs are now the standard.
Parking congestion has a lot of repercussions. There is increased wear and tear on the communities, it frustrates visitors; and, more importantly... those extra 4 wheels (usually the Suburban) have no where to go in Rosemary, Seaside, and other communities except "town square." But, those parking spaces are there to support those businesses, not to serve as a "long term lot."
The third issue is obviously my pet favorite. 30-A is a HIGHWAY... designed, built, and maintained for internal combustion automobiles; with a separately engineered path for slower moving cyclist and pedestrians. The road is not for lolly-gagging. Allowing golf carts on 30-A - or dropping the speed limit to below 36mph, which is the same thing- stifles traffic. Unlike Destin or Panama City Beach, we don't have a "front, middle, and back beach road" or north-south access every city block. And I don't want those kinds of roads. Saying any more about that on this thread would be kicking a dead horse.
Other folks have issues with the common use of the carts. (kids driving them, grownups running onto the curb at 11PM with a styro-cup in their hand, carts stacked up at the boardwalks) All valid concerns.
I'd love to own a cart. If I had one, I'd drive it on residential roads, to get to the beach, in a development that has plenty of parking.
Skunky has a selective notion of carpetbagging. He loves WalMart!