SoWal Incorporation

[Andy A]

Post such as the one above are one of the reasons there is friction between the North part of the county and the South. It is too bad that some people in the South have their noses up in the air and have no concept of what we really should be doing in regard to advancement of WALTON COUNTY. Please note I did not say South Walton.

 

[Leader of the Banned]

I think Huckleberry would be more at home in NoWal.

 

[Lake View Too]

Should we change the name of this website to WAL?

 

[Bdarg]

In reading this thread I realize that people are confused about what incorporation is about. I saw someone mention that they were happy with the garbage and sherif services and therefore saw no reason to incorporate. Incorporation of a city into a city does not remove the city from the county. The services provided by the county will remain. The level of governance generated by an incorporated city can be as minimal as a providing a collective seat of influence with the county government, or it can be one that provides more, or higher level, services. Those are things yet to be determined.

Currently the county government is trying to govern with a one size fits all approach to the whole county. Like most one size approaches, it does not really fit all. In this case, as the south county population continues to grow, it fits most, but will soon move to the category of fitting some.
I my opinion, an incorporated area south of the bay is needed to fill the gaps and ease the tight areas of the "one size fits all" approach has generated. Developers are plagued by a constant flux of which rules will be applied and which rules will not. Property owners are constantly plagued by the possibilities that the land use criteria of neighboring lands will be amended in such a way that their property values will plummet. We are coming back from the property crashes of 2005 and 2008, but under the current structure a "gap" or a "tight spot" created by the one size fits most approach can send your or my property value back to the bottom of 2008--it makes property ownership in South Walton a spin of a barrel in real estate Russian roulette. By incorporating an area of the county for which the one size approach does not work, the area is able to tailor its own plan and have a say in its own destiny.

 

[Bob Wells]

In reading this thread I realize that people are confused about what incorporation is about. I saw someone mention that they were happy with the garbage and sherif services and therefore saw no reason to incorporate. Incorporation of a city into a city does not remove the city from the county. The services provided by the county will remain. The level of governance generated by an incorporated city can be as minimal as a providing a collective seat of influence with the county government, or it can be one that provides more, or higher level, services. Those are things yet to be determined.

Currently the county government is trying to govern with a one size fits all approach to the whole county. Like most one size approaches, it does not really fit all. In this case, as the south county population continues to grow, it fits most, but will soon move to the category of fitting some.
I my opinion, an incorporated area south of the bay is needed to fill the gaps and ease the tight areas of the "one size fits all" approach has generated. Developers are plagued by a constant flux of which rules will be applied and which rules will not. Property owners are constantly plagued by the possibilities that the land use criteria of neighboring lands will be amended in such a way that their property values will plummet. We are coming back from the property crashes of 2005 and 2008, but under the current structure a "gap" or a "tight spot" created by the one size fits most approach can send your or my property value back to the bottom of 2008--it makes property ownership in South Walton a spin of a barrel in real estate Russian roulette. By incorporating an area of the county for which the one size approach does not work, the area is able to tailor its own plan and have a say in its own destiny.

Couple of thoughts. We look at the trend to the west of us, we hear at budget time where the Sheriff comes with his hand out to the various cities asking for more money to provide police protection to cities and do so by contract. They basically already pay for that protection but I would guess that he is offering a higher amount of officer available in the city. Your comments pretty much focuses on zoning and planning and although I understand what your concerns are, I would be curious if there was a way to address that need with a some sort of MSBU or an HOA for those areas that would vote to have something as this. Is there any information as to the areas those that are involved in this are considering to include in this incorporation?

 

[Mike Jones]

Post such as the one above are one of the reasons there is friction between the North part of the county and the South. It is too bad that some people in the South have their noses up in the air and have no concept of what we really should be doing in regard to advancement of WALTON COUNTY. Please note I did not say South Walton.

Just having a bit of fun with stereotypes.

The truth is Walton has always been full of good ole boys. It's South Alabama after all. South Walton was, and is, where many of them do business.

SoWal used to be full of vacationing good ole boys and their families from Alabama. Now SoWal is full of suburbanites from Alabama and Georgia (and other places). Not an improvement but certainly a big change.

SoWal is evolving just like every place that becomes too popular. It's getting ruined and government growth is a part of the evolution.

The only saving graces are the beach, lakes, parks, and forests. They can keep this place a good place to live. But we must protect them. Look at all the signs on the beach. Seems to me that locals and beach lovers should be up in arms and focused on keeping our beach public.

If the beaches are off limits then there is no reason for people to live here or visit here. You'd be forced to stay in Seaside or WaterColor or Rosemary Beach.

 

[Andy A]

Mike Jones is certainly right about the beaches. I have contacted the Commissioners many times regarding our scenic cooridor signage ordinance and why can it not be applied to the beaches. The "ho hum" response I've received is deafening! When I bought here, there were no signs on the beach and putting up a fence would have got someone cited. The beaches are sacrosanct. They should be treated with respect.

 

[Kurt]

Too bad we missed the boat...

The beaches, as you’ve probably heard, were made public property in 1912 by Gov. Oswald West, who did it by declaring them highways. This sounds today like a stretch, but at the time, it was anything but; there wasn’t a road along the coast until the 1920s, and if you wanted to get from Arch Cape to Cannon Beach without detouring through Hillsboro, you pretty much had to use the beach.

http://offbeatoregon.com/1206a-how-tom-mccall-saved-public-beaches.html

In 1911, governor Oswald West was elected on the promise to reclaim Oregon's beaches as public land. The legislature favored the privatization of these lands, but West was able to make an argument for public ownership based on the need for transportation. The 1913 legislature declared the entire length of the ocean shore from Washington to California as a state highway.[1][2] Legislators also created the State Highway Commission, which began the construction of Highway 101. The Parks and Recreation Department, a branch of the highway commission, bought land for 36 state parks along the coastal highway, an average of one every 10 miles (16 km). With the completion of the highway and parks system, coastal tourism skyrocketed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Beach_Bill

 

[Danny Glidewell]

In reading this thread I realize that people are confused about what incorporation is about. I saw someone mention that they were happy with the garbage and sherif services and therefore saw no reason to incorporate. Incorporation of a city into a city does not remove the city from the county. The services provided by the county will remain. The level of governance generated by an incorporated city can be as minimal as a providing a collective seat of influence with the county government, or it can be one that provides more, or higher level, services. Those are things yet to be determined.

Currently the county government is trying to govern with a one size fits all approach to the whole county. Like most one size approaches, it does not really fit all. In this case, as the south county population continues to grow, it fits most, but will soon move to the category of fitting some.
I my opinion, an incorporated area south of the bay is needed to fill the gaps and ease the tight areas of the "one size fits all" approach has generated. Developers are plagued by a constant flux of which rules will be applied and which rules will not. Property owners are constantly plagued by the possibilities that the land use criteria of neighboring lands will be amended in such a way that their property values will plummet. We are coming back from the property crashes of 2005 and 2008, but under the current structure a "gap" or a "tight spot" created by the one size fits most approach can send your or my property value back to the bottom of 2008--it makes property ownership in South Walton a spin of a barrel in real estate Russian roulette. By incorporating an area of the county for which the one size approach does not work, the area is able to tailor its own plan and have a say in its own destiny.

bdarg, You are correct that the new city will remain in the county. However, the relationship changes in that the city must contract with the county to provide services and additional costs will possibly be incurred. In fact, a new city must provide either its own police and fire services or contract with a provider before the city organization becomes official. Destin, for example, pays millions to the Okaloosa County Sheriff to provide law enforcement services. There have been efforts in the past for the Okaloosa Sheriff to take over the Ft. Walton Police Department. The reasons were that the Sheriff could provide the service cheaper, but there would have been a contract and payment for services. Bob Well's post is also correct that the Sheriff asks for more money from the cities in Okaloosa on a fairly annual basis. Due to the costs associated with starting/restarting a department, the Sheriff's Office generally gets what they ask for because they have the cities over the proverbial barrel. Since raising taxes generally is not an option, this means other services and amenities suffer.

 

[Bdarg]

Mr. Glidewell, there is no requirement that a city provide police service over and above the county sheriff and the state police. The Florida League of Cities covered that question in their informational presentation in February. That goes for the fire service as well. You can see the video of the Florida League of Cities presentation at www.abettersouthwalton.com.

It would be up to the new city and its inhabitants to decide what services that they want the city to provide. As mentioned in the presentation there are some cities in Florida that are very minimal, in some cases just providing zoning. It all depends on what inhabitants want. The exploration process is just starting so it is still too early to determine details such as which additional services are desired.