Other The Preserves at Santa Rosa Beach

[Mike Jones]

Technical Review Committee - Jan 07 2026

The Preserves at Santa Rosa Beach - Request to approve by final order. Project number MAJ25-000057 is being reviewed by Tim Brown. This is a major development order application submitted by Baker Engineers, LLC on behalf of Seven Seas Holdings I, LLC and Santa Rosa Beach Holdings, LLC, requesting approval to develop 39 single family residential lots and associated infrastructure on 20.06 +/- acres with a future land use of Conservation Residential and a zoning category of Conservation Residential 2:1. The property is located in District 5 on the east side of North Church Street, north of West Nursery Road and south of Crawfish Alley and is identified by parcel number(s) 15-2S-20-33160-000-0240 and 15-2S-20-33160-000-0250

 

[South Walton Community Council]

The South Walton Community Council applauds the Board of County Commissioners who on June 30, 2026, approved the Magistrate Judge’s decision to deny the development application for The Preserves at Santa Rosa Beach. The developer wanted to count stormwater ponds as open space to meet their conservation requirement for open space in Conservation Residential zoning.

This is an issue that South Walton Community Council along with groups like 1,000 Friends of Florida and Healthy Gulf have been following and advocating for what is best long term for Walton County.

This affirms a basic principle: conservation zoning must actually protect conservation. Mature forests, wetlands, and native vegetation are not interchangeable with engineered stormwater ponds. Natural systems absorb and filter rainfall, reduce flooding, improve water quality, and sustain biodiversity in ways man-made ponds simply cannot replicate. Clear-cutting these areas is the opposite of conservation, regardless of how it is labeled.

Judge Desai noted in recommended order dated May 19, 2026:

“A reading of the LDC taken as a whole indicates that the proposed stormwater ponds would not qualify as “open space” because the destruction of the natural area and then rebuilding of the man-made wet retention ponds is not “consistent with the conservation of natural areas, environmentally sensitive lands, [or] habitat. The finding that stormwater ponds are not considered “open space” is consistent with the County’s past actions.”

Additionally, the special magistrate memorandum stated:

“The Special Magistrate has not found, nor have the applicant or the county cited, any provision in the LDC or Comprehensive Plan stating that “maximum development potential” is a policy, goal, or consideration for interpreting the LDC or applying the standards of CR 2/1.”

In keeping with our mission, the South Walton Community Council hired an attorney and an environmental planning expert to help prepare this case for the magistrate. We would like to thank Terrell Arline and Craig Diamond for their vigorous defense.

South Walton Community Council would additionally like to thank the members of the Chat Holley Corridor Community for their support.

Please know, advocacy like this comes at a cost. You can help support efforts such as these by donating to SWCC. 99.5%+ of every dollar donated goes directly towards advocacy and hiring attorneys and experts needed to make sure these issues are monitored and addressed.