By DOTTY NIST
Vacation homes and condominiums are much more numerous when it comes to short term accommodations in south Walton County than hotels, especially along CR-30A. However, two current development proposals call for a total of 165 hotel rooms to be added along a short stretch of the county road on the east end of Seagrove.
To go before the Walton County Planning Commission at a Jan. 14 special public hearing is the Redesign of Chateau 30A, a proposed 58,256-square-foot, four-story, 90-room inn, combined with a second building containing 660 square feet of retail, both on a 2.4-acre parcel on the north side of CR-30A across from Williams Street. Plans are for the hotel to be a Hampton Inn, according to recent drawings submitted with the application. The land use classification of the property is Village Mixed Use.
Chateau 30A had previously been proposed as a 28-unit condominium development prior to its redesign last year.
One block to the west, on the north side of CR-30A across from Brown Street and North Ryan Street, there has been an application for the Midgrove Center Planned Unit Development (PUD), which is to include a 75-room hotel. No type of hotel has currently been specified in submittals.
Included with this proposal are an 8,000-square-foot restaurant, 22,849 square feet of retail, and 21,439 square feet of office space, all on 4.89 acres classified as Village Mixed Use and Neighborhood Infill.
According to Tim Brown, Walton County senior planner and staff reviewer for the Midgrove Center PUD, the Walton County Technical Review Committee (TRC) has voted to move the proposal forward. Its next step would be the Walton County Planning Commission, but Brown said a hearing before that board has not been scheduled pending the receipt of comments from some county departments on a resubmittal by the applicant, along with the resolution of an issue involving a landscape buffer between the project and a residential project to the north.
Hotels for both projects are proposed as limited lodging, for which the Walton County Comprehensive Plan and Walton County Land Development code currently allow a maximum of 125 units.
The Redesign of Chateau 30A has encountered strong community opposition since early December, when a post about the proposal appeared on social media. Part of the opposition has been directed at the fact that this would be a chain hotel, a first for CR-30A, and a potential threat to the uniqueness of the county road. Other concerns have involved an increase in traffic, possible stormwater issues, and a lack of compatibility of the project with other uses on CR-30A, which is designated as a scenic corridor by the state and county. An online petition against the project has been signed by over 8,500 people, and the South Walton Community Council has established a legal fund to oppose this project and others in the future that are deemed incompatible with the community.
Included with the Chateau 30A application are a site plan, civil plans, a lighting plan, architectural floor plans/elevations, a stormwater management report, and a traffic concurrency report. According to the plans, 101 parking spaces would be provided, along with two loading spaces and eight bicycle spaces. The traffic concurrency report indicates that 56 new PM peak hour trips would be generated by the development.
The Walton County Planning Commission special hearing on the Redesign of Chateau 30A/Hampton Inn is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the South Walton Annex. The planning commission’s recommendation will be furnished to the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC), which will make a final determination on the proposal in public session. These meetings are open to public attendance and input.
