By DOTTY NIST
Walton County staff have been directed to start the process for amendments to reduce the maximum number of rooms for new lodging establishments in the CR-30A area.
“On 30A, I really would like to go back to 75 rooms,” District 2 Commissioner Cecilia Jones said at the Feb. 24 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.
CR-30A is all two-lane with the exception of its western end in the area of Van R. Butler Elementary. Congestion has become a problem in the county- and state-designated scenic corridor, especially during spring and summer months.
A maximum of 125 rooms is currently allowable as Limited Lodging in areas classified as Village Mixed Use along CR-30A. Previously, 75 rooms had been the maximum number stated for Limited Lodging both in the Walton County Comprehensive Plan (CP) and Land Development Code (LDC). In 2011, that number was raised to 125 rooms in the CP as part of the county’s Evaluation and Appraisal (EAR) amendment process.
In 2014, the planning department brought forth a proposed amendment to the LDC to increase the maximum allowable number of rooms to 125 in Limited Lodging for the stated purpose of providing consistency between the two documents. The amendment was approved by the BCC at that time after two public hearings.
Later that year, when there was an application for a 90-room Hampton Inn on CR-30A as part of the Redesign of Chateau 30A proposal, some in the community had registered surprise that that number of hotel rooms was allowable on CR-30A. A March 5 special BCC meeting was scheduled for consideration of the controversial proposal.
“With 30A, I have a real issue with it being 125 rooms, that’s just too much for 30A,” Jones said at the Feb. 24 BCC meeting.
“Again I will say that our vision was never to become an extension of Panama City Beach. It was to stay unique and special,” she continued.
Jones said she thought that going back to the 75-room maximum for CR-30A would enhance the county’s vision for CR-30A.
“I think it is really more compatible with the area and the limited infrastructure that we have in the area,” agreed District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows. She gave the example of the 60 rooms at the WaterColor Inn as a more appropriate size for lodging in the CR-30A area.
Jones moved to direct staff to proceed with preparing language to amend both the CP and LDC to reduce the maximum number of rooms in Limited Lodging to 75 for CR-30A— and to move forward “as quickly as we can” with bringing those proposals before the Walton County Planning Commission.
After clearing the planning commission with a recommendation, the proposed changes would undergo final consideration by the BCC.
Meadows suggested amending the motion to include north-south connector roads intersecting with CR-30A “because they all load onto 30A.”
Jones agreed to make that amendment to her motion. The motion carried, receiving aye votes not only from Jones and Meadows but from District 1 Commissioner Bill Chapman.
District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander was absent due to illness, and District 3 Commissioner Bill Imfeld was in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the county at the time of the meeting.
