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WaltonIsOne

Beach Lover
Nov 14, 2009
88
40
Walton County, FL
Yes, the wedding industry is part of the larger tourism industry that brings in a great deal of revenue.

But that industry will still do quite well and will still bring in revenue while having weddings at PROPER venues. There are many.

Selling crack is also profitable, employs people, and draws in visitors - but that doesn't mean it is legal or that you want it going on at the house next door.

Hey Scooter, you always seem to use your "selling crack" or prostitution examples when presenting your position on this issue. Keep in mind, it is not legal for "residents" of Walton County to "sell crack" or "solicit for sex" versus Short Term Rental property owners doing the same. In my polite opinion, your example is not suitable. And your statement is not fact based.

You may or may not be aware, but the county is attempting to outlaw ANY and ALL EVENTS from being held on any short term rental property. Whereas "residents" can have any event they so desire.

No matter if these events are a wedding reception, family reunion, birthday party, funeral wake, campaign fundraiser, etc. If the event involves with "putting up a tent" (the county's exact words) on short term rental property areas, then the county Code Enforcement Board will attempt to deem this as an illegal event.

Meanwhile, homesteaded property owners and second home property owners can hold any of these events as they so desire as many times as they want.

When W.H. Butler originally invested in Grayton Beach in the 1920's, his goal was to create a tourist destination and establish a tourist economy in Walton County.

Short term rental property along the beach is the pre-dominant "Conforming Use" standard in the county for over 75 years. Living along the beach as a "full time resident" is the minority form of conforming use.

I agree that "residents" have property rights and the rights to a peaceful environment, but, when one decides to settle along the "tourist" filled beaches here in the county, these rights are not the same as one might expect when living north of the Bay. Most if not all, people who move in along the beach know this. And if they do not, then that is their problem to work through.

Mr. W.H. Butler, must be rolling over in his grave in response to the county's failure to handle this situation with EVERYONE's best interests in mind.

As stated many times before, if the Sheriff enforced noise, parking, and disturbing the peace ordinances, this problem would not even exist.
 

JoBu

Beach Comber
Jun 4, 2008
27
3
I would think that as long as it wasn't too big & the owners are okay with it, it would be fine. We have had great luck with VRBO.com for finding wonderful places to stay. On this site, you deal directly with the owners. Best wishes to you!

VRBO isn't the site it used to be. While looking for a house in Seaside, i discovered that many of the 'owners' that are listed are simply management agencies. If you look closely, many of the rentals are listed using the same format. Those are all managed by a single rental agency. Beyond that, you can look at the contact phone number and see that many are the same; all going back to a single rental agency. In the case of Seaside, many listings actually say they are 'partnered' with the Cottage Rental Agency who is the rental agency for most of the homes in Seaside.

Not saying its a bad thing, but you may find it hard to actually deal with an 'owner' on VRBO.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
Hey Scooter, you always seem to use your "selling crack" or prostitution examples when presenting your position on this issue. Keep in mind, it is not legal for "residents" of Walton County to "sell crack" or "solicit for sex" versus Short Term Rental property owners doing the same. In my polite opinion, your example is not suitable. And your statement is not fact based.

You may or may not be aware, but the county is attempting to outlaw ANY and ALL EVENTS from being held on any short term rental property. Whereas "residents" can have any event they so desire.

No matter if these events are a wedding reception, family reunion, birthday party, funeral wake, campaign fundraiser, etc. If the event involves with "putting up a tent" (the county's exact words) on short term rental property areas, then the county Code Enforcement Board will attempt to deem this as an illegal event.

Meanwhile, homesteaded property owners and second home property owners can hold any of these events as they so desire as many times as they want.

When W.H. Butler originally invested in Grayton Beach in the 1920's, his goal was to create a tourist destination and establish a tourist economy in Walton County.

Short term rental property along the beach is the pre-dominant "Conforming Use" standard in the county for over 75 years. Living along the beach as a "full time resident" is the minority form of conforming use.

I agree that "residents" have property rights and the rights to a peaceful environment, but, when one decides to settle along the "tourist" filled beaches here in the county, these rights are not the same as one might expect when living north of the Bay. Most if not all, people who move in along the beach know this. And if they do not, then that is their problem to work through.

Mr. W.H. Butler, must be rolling over in his grave in response to the county's failure to handle this situation with EVERYONE's best interests in mind.

As stated many times before, if the Sheriff enforced noise, parking, and disturbing the peace ordinances, this problem would not even exist.

I keep using examples like that because in my opinion people are doing something illegal/in violation of rules and to pretend otherwise is just ridiculous.

Having not have been here since the 1920's I cannot speak to Mr. Butler's opinions, but I am pretty sure he would be more offended by how people are being bad neighbors than by attempts to curtail tourism. In fact, I am sure he would be amazed at how the area has exploded in terms of visitors - and the lavishness of these houses.
 

iwishiwasthere

Beach Fanatic
Jul 12, 2005
2,875
36
Tennessee
VRBO isn't the site it used to be. While looking for a house in Seaside, i discovered that many of the 'owners' that are listed are simply management agencies. If you look closely, many of the rentals are listed using the same format. Those are all managed by a single rental agency. Beyond that, you can look at the contact phone number and see that many are the same; all going back to a single rental agency. In the case of Seaside, many listings actually say they are 'partnered' with the Cottage Rental Agency who is the rental agency for most of the homes in Seaside.

Not saying its a bad thing, but you may find it hard to actually deal with an 'owner' on VRBO.

I had that problem as well. There should be a disclaimer on the rental if it has an agency. If I wanted a rental agency, I would use one...not a site like vrbo.
 

Lake Eastern

Beach Lover
Dec 17, 2005
162
38
Walton County
You sound so much like the developers in the mid-90's who assured this county that by limiting the height to 50 ft or 4 stories was just going to kill this economy. Not a realtor but it would seem the values of lands here have held their own compared to our neighbors to the east and west who failed to control their growth. Of course, I've always admired long term popular tourist destinations like Nantuckett and Cape Cod that set their standards and held them.
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,068
1,973
You sound so much like the developers in the mid-90's who assured this county that by limiting the height to 50 ft or 4 stories was just going to kill this economy. Not a realtor but it would seem the values of lands here have held their own compared to our neighbors to the east and west who failed to control their growth. Of course, I've always admired long term popular tourist destinations like Nantuckett and Cape Cod that set their standards and held them.

There you go.:clap:
 

ksyoshikawa

Beach Comber
Nov 12, 2009
8
1
There are several local wedding services that will help you line up an officiant, a photographer and will do a simple and elegant set up on the beach for you. I officiate at beach weddings and have performed several ceramonies for small family/close friends only type weddings. The group often returns to their beach rental for a small party - no diffierent from other parties that families have who visit our beaches. Rent a house, line up an officiant and have fun! Best of luck.
 
Our daughter who lives in Atlanta will be the lead photographer for a wedding in Rosemary this spring, along with the videographer that she works with who lives in Los Angeles. Because the bride and groom are hiring professionals from out of town, my guess is that either her parents or the groom's parents must be owners at Rosemary.

Obviously it has been approved because our daughter has already received a deposit.

Fishhead, hope you have a wonderful wedding!

Jdarg, you are so sweet to offer to help Fishhead with transportation.
 
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