By DOTTY NIST
South Walton – Highland House Bed & Breakfast’s request for approval of a restaurant open to the public was denied by the Walton County Planning Commission on Aug. 11 at the South Walton Annex
The request by the bed and breakfast, located on CR-30A just east of Gulf Place, had been continued from the planning commission’s July 14 meeting after some discussion on the proposal.
In comments at that meeting,Vivian Shamel of Walton County Planning and Development Services explained that applicant Highland House Bed & Breakfast’s request was for a change of use from Bed and Breakfast to Bed and Breakfast with a restaurant open to the public.
She said the application had been the result of a code enforcement case initiated after a sign on CR-30A was reported advertising the restaurant that was being operated at the business. She said the restaurant had never been applied for as part of the bed and breakfast’s development order.
To rectify the matter, the bed and breakfast had applied for the change of use, she continued.
While the basic technical requirements for the change of use had been met, staff had found the compatibility analysis submitted with the request to be insufficient, Shamel said. The analysis was required, she explained, due to the land use classification of the property being Neighborhood Infill.
Among problems noted with the analysis had been that another restaurant currently in violation had been used in the analysis, along with other properties in Village Mixed Use land use areas.
Shamel added that public comments had been received in connection with the request complaining of noise and traffic disturbances related to large events being held on the property. She said the holding of these event had not been disclosed either or the application or in the compatibility analysis furnished by Highland House.
Also speaking at the July meeting, Walton County Planning and Development Services Director Wayne Dyess commented that the analysis had been lacking in such details as hours of operation and provisions for loading and unloading of provisions. He told the planning commission members that staff had determined the analysis to be “incomplete at this time.” Dyess added that due to the amount of traffic and noise associated with the events taking place on the property, the holding of events was “not permittable under the current application.”
In response to a question, Dyess said the code enforcement case in connection with the business had been held in abatement pending the county’s review of the restaurant application. He said he believed the restaurant was still being operated.
“We’ve been working with them for quite a while,” Dyess said, adding that staff wanted to see the matter resolved.
Shamel noted that the code enforcement case dated back to Dec. 2014 and that the change of use application had been filed in 2015.
Representing the applicant, Jamie Eubanks of Jenkins Engineering told the board members that his company had worked to bring the restaurant site into compliance but said he had had no previous knowledge of the events taking place on the property.
The request was continued from the July 14 meeting due to the issues raised and to allow time for the applicant to revise the submittals per direction of staff.
When the item came up at the Aug. 11 meeting, staff’s recommendation was for denial due to the applicant’s failure to provide an updated compatibility analysis or other materials for the board members to review at the meeting.
The board members voted to deny the request with all aye votes.
Mac Carpenter, Walton County planning manager, commented after the meeting that Highland House’s failure to pursue the change of use application would necessitate either the business discontinuing the activity that had resulted in the code enforcement case or the business again being subject to code enforcement action.
In other business at the Aug. 11 meeting, the board members approved the Winecroft Small Scale Amendment, a change in land use classification from Neighborhood Infill to Conservation Residential 2 units per acre for a 1.5-acre property at 919 East Mack Bayou Road.
Other items on the agenda, Piper’s Place and Costa Blanca, were continued to the 5 p.m. Sept. 8 planning commission meeting at the South Walton Annex.