This happened to me today around 5 pm on the beach in Blue
Moutain. I am an owner on Redfish Circle. I walked to the beach access
between the Inn and the Retreat and set up a chair and a towel on the
Retreat side of things. All was fine for about an hour, at which time
I was approached by a security guard and his sidekick. I was asked to move and I did. He wanted to call the Sheriff because of all the questions I was asking. He did, and I called the manager of the Blue Mountain Beach Club.
Ultimately, we had a beach-side fiesta consisting of me, two guards, two Sheriff's Office guys, and another Redfish homeowner. Where were all you Sowallers to bring me a maragarita? Sheesh!
I learned a lot today that I wanted to 'share' with the other users of this board. I believe that those of us who own on Redfish and other members
of the Beach Club/BMB Masters Association have the right to use that
access and the beach there. I also believe that the public has the right to use that beach. The Beach Club Manager had documents with him to support those facts, none of which the guards or law were keen to inspect. I should point out that there were no private property signs on the Retreat side of things, only on the Inn's side. The Inn's signs were also not lined up perpendicularly to the beach, but kind of staggered.
The Sheriff folks are sick of this guy calling all the time. They said they can always tell when he's on duty. They are enforcing the MHW line until this issue can be elevated above them. They recommended the Manager call Charlie Crist's office, or at least Cindy Meadows' office. The Gonzalez case may solve all this, but it also may have to be decided by the state Supreme Court. I promise you, if you bring up what I can only remember as the "Tony Roma" Dayton Beach case, it will be disregarded beachside. They don't care, they just want to do their jobs and this is currently their least favorite task. They are sticking to the assertion that we only have ingress/egress rights to the MHW line, where we can then plant ourselves and our stuff.
I could name the names of those who were part of my group this afternoon, but I don't think it's necessary. What is pertinent is that others know what can happen on a lovely, almost barren beach in Walton County to folks just sitting in a chair with an adult beverage reading People magazine. I wanted to warn people about this on a more personal level. I was civil, just asked a lot of questions, as any homeowner would. The one security guard in particular I had a problem with (older male, for lack of a better description, his sidekick looked barely 20) was very argumentative and harrassing. I had heard about him from my family who visited over the week of July Fourth. True to form, he seems to target singles on the beach, evidently with the assumption that they won't challenge his rights. He verbally and physically threatened my brother-in-law on Saturday, July 7th. I did not witness it, but I believe my in-law and also believe his and my sis' first-hand accounts of this rent-a-cop physically removing people's belongings from the beach. I questioned him about this, and he admitted that he has relocated 'abondoned' property. These things (chairs, bags, towels) were left unattended because their owners were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
Additionally, he moves these items to the western side of the public beach access. This is considered by some to be owned by the Retreat. It seems that when the Inn rebuilt the public beach access, they mistakenly built it on Retreat land, or so it seems. So this guard moves people's stuff from Retreat/Inn land to Retreat land, which he admits.
I can't afford to get arrested. I was super-civil and did all I could to (successfully) stall the guard until the Club Manager arrived and we all chatted with the Sherriff Sargeant and his coworker. I can't be the next Senora Gonzalez and keep my job. I just know in my heart of hearts that this isn't right and I've seen plenty of evidence to suport that belief. I would be very interested to hear what you others think and what you would have done. I'll be down here until early Wednesday and will be out of the beach (by the water, natch) each day. I am upset about this and in particulary how that one guard has harrassed my family. He tried to get me but must not have noticed my spine, my brain, and my cell phone!
Thanks for reading this long rant, I feel a bit better already. I should also mention that nurse sharks (some small, one bigger) were spotted on the beach in BMB today. There was at least one bull shark sighted near Fort
Panic. According to one of the Sheriff dudes, he saw it leap from the water with a 100 lb tarpon it its mouth! I will be on the lookout tomorrow, for sure.
