By DOTTY NIST
DeFuniak Springs– Walton County will have parking for hundreds more beachgoer vehicles and hundreds more feet of beach access property, funded through the bed tax, if efforts now being pursued by the Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and the county come to fruition.
Executive Director Jay Tusa provided a number of updates to county commissioners on Aug. 9, with topics including potential parcels for beach parking and access and options for use of the parcels.
This was at the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) regular meeting at the Walton County Courthouse.
Two locations were discussed where property is available for purchase that could be utilized for beachgoer parking.
Tusa commented that there would be many opportunities for public/private partnerships in developing the parcels, giving the example of Lee Park in Okaloosa County.
As had been requested, Tusa displayed examples of parking garages in other areas such as Naples and St. Augustine, Fla. where there had been a focus on aesthetics, unobtrusiveness, in short a different appearance from that of the typical parking garage. The garages can be built to look like beach cottages, for example, or anything else, he explained.
If constructed in south Walton County, parking garages would be subject to the 50-foot height limit applying to the area.
The cost for construction of a parking garage would be approximately $19,000 per space, Tusa reported. For retail space constructed as part of parking garage projects, a $4.48 per square foot rental charge or more would be possible, he added.
Tusa discussed the need for a shuttle in connection with at least one of the parcels. A bike sharing program would also be possible, he commented.
Tusa suggested holding workshops to “incorporate the human element” and find out what people would like to see in the way of parking garages.
The “Grayton Grand” parcel
Turning to the two parcels that are available for purchase, Tusa said the one on CR-283 in Grayton Beach is seven-tenths of a mile from the beach and would require a shuttle ride of two to three minutes. This is known as the “Grayton Grand” parcel due to its having been approved for a project by that name in 2003.
Grayton Grand was approved for a 75-room hotel, 78 condominium units, 1,000 square feet of retail space, a 3,600-square-foot exhibition area, a 6,000-square-foot restaurant, and a 160-seat conference facility, all on the 7.35-acre site. The approved construction height is 50 feet.
The structures were never constructed, but there are currently 188 spaces of parking on the site with curbing and limestone base, according to details of a proposed purchase agreement drafted by the property owner that was presented at the BCC meeting. Also in place, according to the document, is a 1,000-foot elevated boardwalk traversing natural areas on the site.
The proposed agreement also states that the project is approved for a total of 309 surface parking spaces, or an additional 121 spaces over those now in place.
The parking area was utilized at one time by Seaside for employee parking.
Tusa observed that, if the property were acquired by the county, while a three-to-five-year plan would likely be required to construct a parking garage, he had discussed the question, “What can we do for the next season,” with Walton County Public Works Engineering.
Tusa estimated that the county could construct the additional approved surface parking for approximately $92,200 through the use of county staff. The cost would be approximately $147,500 if the work were contracted out, he said.
Future uses might include an events plaza and restaurant, Tusa noted.
Appraisals obtained for the property were $7.785 million and $7.5 million. The price negotiated with property owner Jay Odom was $7.632 million.
District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows asked if the TDC funds could be used to pay for the property.
Walton County Attorney Mark Davis responded that a meeting had been scheduled for later that week with county and TDC legal staff and executive director at which the question would be discussed.
District 3 Commissioner Bill Imfeld asked if the BCC had not obtained a state attorney general’s opinion that bed tax funds could be used to purchase property for beach parking.
Davis responded that this was so. However he said indications were that the statutes would limit the amount of bed tax funds that could be spent in a given year for such purposes to 10 percent of the TDC budget. He promised an answer on the question at the next BCC meeting. Davis said that beachfront property purchases would likely not be affected by the limitation.
Meadows asked if a partnership between the county and a retail entity would be possible with the property. Davis responded that he believed this would be possible.
Meadows emphasized the need for parking but stressed that plans for the property must be in compliance with county code. The property is in a Village Mixed Use classification.
Old Florida Village property
Tusa also presented information on another property available for county purchase. This 2.738-acre vacant property is located on the north side of CR-30A in the Old Florida Village subdivision. The property is close to a number of beach access points.
Tusa said there were currently 134 parking spaces on the property and that the county could install asphalt, striping, curb stops and landscaping at a cost of $66,040 if done by county staff. If contracted out, the work would cost $105,650, Tusa said.
Appraisals on the property came in at around $3.95 million. The negotiated price was $3.725 million.
Tusa discussed a number of future possibilities for the property, including a parking garage with retail on the bottom and incorporating open space and/or an events plaza with the construction. Another possibility, he said, would be a rooftop restaurant.
Meadows urged for caution as the beach is crowded in the area of the property. She also called for close attention to adjoining land uses and for evaluation of potential impacts on those uses.
There was discussion that the additional parking that could be provided on the property could alleviate the problem of vehicles being parked “all over the place” along roads in the area.
Tusa pledged to continue research on the parcel and bring back more information.
Public comment
As public comment was taken, David Kramer raised objections to the county acquiring the Grayton parcel, saying that “pushing $8 million” was a lot to spend for the number of parking spots that it would provide—and that that, combined with the use of a shuttle would be “a bit odious.” He commented on the need for workforce parking but was doubtful that TDC funds could be used for that.
Kramer also suggested advertising an RFP for available parcels.
“We’ve done that,” Meadows responded.
Kramer spoke in support of acquiring the Old Florida Village parcel but said he would suggest paying no more than $4 million for the Grayton parcel unless the county was going to “develop” the property.
Among other comments, Suzanne Harris observed that it does not make sense for the county to look at acquiring property for the purposes discussed when the BCC had recently declined to proceed with constructing beach accesses at Headland Avenue and Walton Dunes.
“You’ve got county beach where you won’t open up an access,” she said of the two beach accesses that had been proposed by the TDC in recent months.
District 2 Commissioner Cecilia Jones countered that the location of proposed Headland Avenue neighborhood beach access was very close to other beach accesses. She added that the location had “always been a drainage ditch.”
Harris spoke against the county acquiring the Grayton Beach parcel for over $7 million if they were just going to be using it just for surface parking for a few years. She suggested that, if acquired, the property should be developed in other ways, possibly to include an amphitheater, shopping, and a rooftop restaurant, with a developer assisting the county in doing so.
Harris said that if the TDC bought the property, care should be taken to ensure that the parcel would provide parking for tourists and not for restaurant employees.
Tusa commented that it would be important if the county were planning to do a restaurant and/or retail on the Grayton property, that a request for proposals (RFP) or request for qualifications (RFQ) be advertised to find a developer.
Potential new beach access in Dune Allen
Turning to six parcels available to the county in the Dune Allen area, Tusa explained that two of those are north of CR-30A and four are gulffront. The southern parcels would provide approximately 220 feet of beachfront and 55 parking spaces.
The commissioners expressed particular interest in the southern parcels. The asking price for these is $7.5 million. Appraisals had come in $2 million or more lower, but Tusa indicated that the fact that the property was being subdivided from two to four parcels at the time the appraisals were done may have been a factor.
Property owners’ representative Andy McAlexander maintained that the comparables used in the appraisals had not been correct. He told the commissioners that the owners feel they are offering a more-than-fair price. McAlexander said other buyers are ready to close but that the owners had been believers in the property going to a “civic use.” However, he said the owners were getting close to their time limit on holding the property.
“Two hundred-twenty [220] feet on the gulf…that’s what we’ve been begging for,” said BCC Chair Sara Comander.
Comander added that, as much as she hates to spend money, especially other people’s, “we all know” that beachfront property is not cheap.
Tusa offered to get new appraisals. The commissioners directed that he do so and that negotiations on the property proceed simultaneously, with the goal of a final negotiated price being arrived at by Aug. 23, with the decision to purchase or not to be voted on at that time.
The Aug. 23 BCC meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and take place at the South Walton Annex—a change in location from the usual one for fourth Tuesday BCC meetings. This was due to the Walton County Supervisor of Elections’ need to use the BCC boardroom at the courthouse for early voting.