opinion
GUEST COLUMN: Beach vending is a privilege, not an entitlement
Posted Apr 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 3, 2015 at 4:52 PM
By JACQUEE MARKEL
The portion of Walton County commissioners’ March 10 meeting regarding beach vending was quite stunning to me and a cause for concern.
We have stepped onto a slippery slope, and it still isn’t enough for some beach vendors!
First and foremost, this is public beach. It is ours. We actually own it. It does not belong to beach vendors. They have absolutely no right to set up business on something that belongs to the public, period.
Setting up business on the beach is a privilege but now is seen as an entitlement by some of the vendors as well as some commissioners.
How on Earth did we get here? Where will this take us? Will food, personal watercraft and spray suntan lotion be next?
I found the demanding nature of many of the vendors who spoke at the March 10 meeting incredible! Their blatant disregard for nonrenting members of the public spoke volumes.
I find it remarkable that the commissioners find it necessary to postpone voting on an ordinance for another season because they haven’t spoken with the vendors’ attorney.
The commissioners and the Tourist Development Council have been bending over backward to try to find a solution to what has become a problem on our public beaches.
The problem? Beach vendors setting up chairs like a blockade at the water’s edge at the crack of dawn, claiming the prime spots before most residents or visitors are awake. Some of those chairs are rented; some are not.
We elect our commissioners to be leaders, but it seems the beach vendors are now leading the commissioners! What other small business constituency is allowed to use public property to conduct its business?
Fines are another issue.
Let me get this straight. Beach vendors get to set up and do business on the beaches we own. They want the best spots. They pay no rent. They set up free advertising with ghost chairs. They get to leave their equipment at the toe of the dune, a privilege not extended to the public, the actual owners of the beach. Then, after all of that, 50 percent of our public beach isn’t enough — and a $100, $300 or $500 fine when breaking the rules is too much?
