By DOTTY NIST
Changes to regulations for vending at public beach accesses in Walton County may be implemented in a few weeks as a result of a recent decision by officials.
The decision came at a March 10 special meeting of the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) at the South Walton Annex.
Last summer the Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) had been tasked by the commissioners with developing remedies to conflicts between vendors setting up chairs and umbrellas at beach accesses and beachgoers not wanting to rent chairs or umbrellas but instead set up their own equipment on the beach.
Vendors serve private beachfront condos and homes and also receive permits to provide and deliver set-ups to public beach access areas.
The TDC held public workshops on vending which included vendors, community members, and the South Walton Turtle Watch, a nonprofit organization that monitors sea turtle nesting on the beaches.
At the March 10 special meeting,TDC Executive Director Jim Bagby and Brian Kellenberger, TDC beach operations director, presented proposed revisions to the vending regulations, which are contained in the Walton County Waterways and Beach Activities Ordinance.
Among the recommended revisions was a requirement in connection with the regional beach accesses, and neighborhood beach accesses with more than 100 linear feet of beach associated with the access, for “a comprehensive beach management plan that will define rules and regulations of how the public beach accesses will be serviced by vendors.” The plan would include allowable number of set-ups, distance between sets, allowable speculative (not-yet-rented) sets, and vendor on-site presence at the access.
For neighborhood beach accesses with more than 100 linear feett of beachfront associated with the access, and neighborhood beach accesses with more than 50 to 100 linear feet of associated beachfront, the recommendation was that vending be allowed in accordance with Section 22-60(d)(8) of the ordinance. The provision states that no vending is allowed on private property or on public beaches adjacent to upland privately-owned property without written annual permission from the county and the upland property owner.
The recommendation for neighborhood beach accesses with less than 50 linear feet of associated beachfront was for no vending to be allowed. On this recommendation, Bagby reasoned that vending would not be practical along the limited beachfront, considering the eight-foot width of the umbrellas furnished by vendors.
Among other proposed revisions was for chairs and umbrellas furnished by vendors to be placed at least 10 feet landward of the wet sand line. They also provided for access to the beach by vendors 30 minutes earlier than per current regulations, at 7:30 a.m.—or earlier if the morning sea turtle survey is completed sooner.
Kellenberger commented on the valuable service provided by beach vendors. “We don’t want to limit the small businessman in Walton County,” he said.
District 2 Commissioner Cecilia Jones asked about fines for violations of vending regulations. Kellenberger responded that fines start at $100 and go up in $100 increments for successive violations up to $500.
Jones protested this as “highway robbery” when a vendor can be charged $300 just for a chair being left out on the beach.
Kellenberger responded that judgment is used in determining whether a violation is of a willful nature or something resulting from a mistake. He reported that toward the end of the season last year vendors “were ready to forego the fine, mainly for early set-up.”
Jones said she had been told that only nine beach accesses had had problems with overcrowding and “ghost sets,” meaning chairs and umbrellas put out by vendors without being rented.
She suggested keeping the current regulations in place for all but the nine beach accesses, for which she suggested limited action. “I’m of the opinion that if it’s working, let’s not mess with it,” she said.
Provided by the TDC along with recommended ordinance revisions were proposed delineations of boundaries for vendor set-up at the regional beach accesses and neighborhood beach accesses with more than 100 feet of associated beachfront. The proposals divided the beachfront area, assigning 50 percent of the area for vendor set-up and 50 percent for use by beachgoers not renting chairs and umbrellas. In some cases, the access area was divided down the middle into east-west areas and in other cases divisions were recommended in different configurations in order to make boardwalks convenient both for vendors and the general public.
Kellenberger suggested that the proposed areas could be marked in “some sort of small unobtrusive manner.”
Asked what would happen if a beachgoer put up their set up in the vendor section at a public beach access, Bagby responded that “we could ask” for the person to move over, but that the fact would remain that this was a public beach. He emphasized that the 50-percent arrangement would apply only at public, not private beach accesses.
Previously discussed had been implementation of requests for proposals (RFPs) for beach vending, but this was not part of the TDC proposals presented on March 10.
District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows was of the opinion that the recommendations had promise to solve some of the problems that had been reported to her, including vendor chairs set up all along the beach close to the water, and “wall-to-wall vendor chairs, half of them empty.” With the changes, a person arriving at the beach at 10 a.m. might actually have a chance “of getting a front-row seat,” she observed.
“To me, you have struck a good balance,” Meadows told Bagby and Kellenberger.
County Commission Chairman Bill Imfeld complained that he had never wanted vending to be eliminated at any of the neighborhood beach accesses. Jones repeated that she had only wanted the nine accesses where problems had been reported to be worked on.
District 1 Commissioner Bill Chapman urged for the inclusion of a safety corridor with set-ups for use of lifeguards. He also expressed concern about putting the recommendations in place, with some “tweaking” probably necessary and the season so close at hand.
Jones called for starting with the nine accesses and telling vendors that they could not put out “ghost sets.” “Spring Break is here…take a step back,” she urged.
Asked by Meadows if she needed to declare a conflict, Jones confirmed that she does have a family member (her son) who works in the local beach vending business. She said she would recuse herself when time came for a vote to be taken on the issue.
Walton County Attorney Mark Davis later commented that Jones had discussed the situation with him and that, according to his research, she had the ability to participate in discussion on the matter if she so chose— but not to vote.
Imfeld moved to have staff continue to work on proposals for revisions to the vending regulations “for next year”—and in the meantime to approve the 7:30 a.m. time for vendor access to the beach and the 50-percent “beach sharing” for all public beach accesses, including the smaller ones not recommended for vending by the TDC. The motion was seconded by Chapman, who also called for the addition of the lifeguard safety corridor and CPR certification for vendors offering water equipment.
In public comment, Blue Mountain Beach resident Linda Hildreth objected to two beach accesses in the Blue Mountain Beach Subdivision #1 being classified as public accesses. “All of that beach is private,” she said. Hildreth maintained that those accesses were for neighborhood use only.
Emmett Hildreth concurred, saying “What the county has done is flawed and incorrect.” He charged Davis to “tell you (the BCC) the truth” about the ownership of Blue Mountain Beach.
Hildreth added that he has been a county resident for 17 years and supports small business. He said he had never encountered a problem with vendors and that they should not be “harrassed” by the county. “It ain’t broke, why don’t we leave it as it is,” Hildreth said of the vending regulations.
Jack Burke, owner of a services and rentals company in Panama City Beach, also declared himself to be “adamantly opposed” to what was being proposed. He warned that 200 to 400 jobs would be lost as a result of the recommendations being implemented. Tourists would be “disgruntled,” Burked predicted.
Burke complained that contracts with tourist would be jeopardized and that the county could lose as much as $1 million in taxes. Calling for the recommendations to be tabled, Burke said a petition in opposition to them now had 331 signatures.
Speaking as executive director for the Walton County Taxpayers Association, Bob Hudson said he had sent Davis a letter about Jones’ conflict on this issue. He said he had seen previous commissioners excuse themselves and leave the room when they had a conflict.
“I will file an ethics complaint,” he told the commissioners.
“We’re putting a sledge hammer to kill a fly,” Walton County Small Business Association board member Tony Anderson said in reference to the recommended changes. He maintained that such action was not necessary considering the small number of complaints and large number of tourists on the beach.
Kurt Tape, owner of Hibiscus Cafe in Grayton Beach, said he had always been supportive of vendors but that it has gotten to the point where “the public is suffering.” The vendors are wanted, but the second person arriving at the beach should be able to get the next best spot on the beach, he hold the commissioners.
Oyster Lake resident Jacquee Markel thanked the commissioners for “trying to figure out this problem.” She said she was pleased that a balance was being sought between the public and the vendors using the beach.
Eric Johnson of Miramar Beach Services was not opposed to some regulation but was doubtful that the 50 percent rule would work at the smaller beach accesses. He asked what would happen if the sets fill up half the access and the rest is not being used. “There are more things to consider,” Johnson said.
With public comment closed, Jones recused herself for the vote. Imfeld’s previous motion was approved 3-0 vote with the addition of the lifeguard safety corridor requirement suggested by Chapman and also, upon the suggestion of Miramar Beach resident Suzanne Harris, the listing of the county on the certificate for liability insurance policies required for vendors. District 4 Commissioner Sara Comander was not present at the meeting due to illness.
Davis advised that since the proposed ordinance amendment had not been approved in full, it would be necessary to write up the items that the BCC had approved into another proposed ordinance and bring it back before the commission. This is anticipated to occur at the April 14 BCC regular meeting. The changes voted up on March 10 would not take effect prior to that ordinance being approved to implement them.
Upon a suggestion from Meadows, staff also received direction to verify ownership of property in connection with the beach accesses to which the ordinance would apply.
