⛴️ Ordinance 25-05-CC would cap livery vessels at 490 and add new safety and training requirements.
⚖️ Council split over whether to hold steady, reduce permits, or allow flexibility based on renewals.
💸 Permit transfers and speculation drew fire, with some members calling current practices “gouging” and “gambling.”
DESTIN — After years of debate over how to rein in Destin’s booming pontoon and livery boat rental industry, city officials zeroed in Monday on an ordinance that would cap the number of vessels, impose new safety training requirements, and tighten rules on transferring permits.
The proposed ruling, Ordinance 25-05-CC, would set the maximum number of livery vessels allowed in the city at 490. This figure reflects the current total of permitted and pending vessels, according to city documents.
The proposal also calls for mandatory employee and customer training, wristband identification for operators, and tighter restrictions on how permits can be transferred or revoked.
City Manager Larry Jones and Community Development Director David Prichard framed the debate by outlining proposed safety requirements: employee training, mandatory customer briefings, and spot-check enforcement by code officers.
Council members generally agreed the measures were reasonable. “I’m fine with all the safety things from my perspective,” said Councilmember Jim Bagby.
The draft ordinance requires employees to complete courses ranging from state boating safety to first aid, while renters would be trained on vessel operation and emergency contacts. Operators would wear color-coded wristbands identifying their license status.
The more contentious issue was whether, and how, to enforce a hard cap on vessel numbers. Prichard noted the city already has 484 active or pending vessels, with room for only a handful more under the proposed 490 limit.
Councilmember Kevin Schmidt pushed for a flexible cap that adjusts annually based on renewals. “Whatever that number is, 490 maybe 500 … I would like it to continue to fluctuate based upon the renewal registrations,” he said.
Councilmember Torey Geile argued that the city should reduce numbers over time, citing an Army Corps of Engineers study warning the harbor was over capacity.
“We are in a situation of imminent serious injury or death,” Geile said. “If we can start reducing those permits annually until we become a safer harbor, that’s what we should be working towards.”
Bagby favored a more aggressive approach, suggesting a cap of 450 and a clear process for reissuing permits when numbers fall.
“We’ve been told … we got too many boats out there, somebody’s gonna get killed,” he said.
Much of the discussion centered on how permits should be handled when businesses or vessels change hands. Under the current ordinance, permits cannot be transferred independently of a business.
The draft revisions would allow transfers only when attached to a vessel, with a limit of one resale every two years and a price cap based on NADA Guide value plus 10 percent.
But several council members rejected the idea of city-imposed pricing.
“I don’t think the city should have any business getting involved with NADA and pricing and being a boat broker,” Schmidt said.
Geile warned against permit speculation, comparing it to gambling.
“Some people have already had [permits] for two years while they’re playing this game,” Geile said. “You’re trying to see if you make money off somebody else’s back by escalating that price.”
Councilmember Sandy Trammell agreed, calling the practice “gouging” and backing a freeze at 490 permits.
“Just to be able to get a bunch of those and hold on to them and then turn around and try to sell them … I just think is gouging,” Trammell said.
Councilmember Teresa Hebert raised concerns that neighboring Fort Walton Beach businesses, which are not under Destin’s moratorium, continue to flood Destin Harbor with rental pontoons.
“As people lose their business, or they get done with it, and our numbers come down, I don’t think we need to add any more. We just say we’re done,” Hebert said.
City Attorney Kimberly Kopp noted that Fort Walton Beach did pass livery vessel regulations, though not a moratorium, relying instead on parking requirements to restrict growth. Kopp emphasized that Destin’s cap must be legally defensible.
“Our number is based on the number of businesses that were here at the time of the moratorium,” Kopp said. “Since council didn’t want to put existing businesses out, they put the moratorium in place.”
Staff will bring back a revised ordinance in September based on the council’s policy direction. That version will need a second reading and final vote before becoming law.
If approved, Ordinance 25-05-CC would mark the city’s most sweeping rewrite of its livery vessel rules since the first moratorium was adopted five years ago.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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