Walton County attorney Daniel Uhlfelder traveled quite a ways from his WaterColor home this weekend to wiggle his toes in the dry sand beach behind the Vizcaya residential community.
Armed with an umbrella, a chair and a copy of a recent Rick Scott executive order, Uhlfelder spent Saturday and Sunday on the beach, upsetting representatives of the Vizcaya homeowners association with his presence on a stretch of sand they claim as their own.
“I sat where I was comfortable. I sat where I’m used to sitting when I go to the beach,” Uhlfelder said.
Accompanied Sunday by local artist Justin Gaffrey, Uhlfelder also tested the resolve of Walton County deputies charged with mediating a growing number of disputes between coastal private property owners and beachgoers who claim the sand belongs to everyone.
Uhlfelder and Gaffrey nearly managed to get themselves hauled off to jail for criminal trespass. It would have been the first such arrest since HB 631 became law July 1 and turned the beaches of South Walton into a battleground.
On numerous occasions over the two days of encounters with Mr. Ulfhelder, Adkinson said, deputies explained how the situation could be mediated and handled without any issue or without a warrant being filed. The sheriff said deputies explained they were not going to physically arrest him and take him off the beach.