The City of Destin and Okaloosa County Commissioners met publicly last week to hear residents’ concerns and begin conflict resolution over who should manage Norriego Point.
The committee did not take official action at the meeting, but County Administrator John Hofstad agreed to present a proposal to the Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners (BCC), which would grant the City of Destin jurisdiction over the Holiday Isle property in exchange for free parking for Okaloosa County residents at all paid city parking spots.
“I believe, based on my conversations with the board, if the city would agree to it [the County’s proposed free parking plan], you would have the necessary support from my board to say we are fine with the City of Destin managing that property,” Hofstad said.
Destin City Manager Larry Jones said this agreement provides a starting point to move forward with official action.
“I think that the takeaway from this meeting should be: let’s take that [parking proposal] to the table,” Jones said. “Let’s hear what the Board of County Commissioners has to say, let’s hear what the Destin City Council has to say, and if there is a negotiation. We’re probably going to land somewhere in between, and we hope that a compromised effort is what turns out to be the best product we can develop out there.”
Jones named four specific areas of concern that Destin and the county will need to consider before finalizing an agreement: Control, development, jurisdiction and process.
Hofstad said if the City of Destin is allowed to control the property, the other areas of concern will naturally fall into place.
“If you control the facility, then development and jurisdiction, that falls within you. We have no say-so in that.”
However, what would actually happen to the land is up in the air. Jones said the City of Destin wants development that complies with the city’s land-use regulations and development code.
“The city seeks an outcome that provides appropriate public recreational opportunities consistent with the character and use of the adjacent 14-acre parcel, which is zoned conservation and owned and managed by the city. The city bears the cost of that while protecting the natural resources, character and intended public purpose for the property. We believe the new property should have a conservation land use, that the boat slips should certainly be utilized as transient, day-use slips and that there be some fishing amenity along with those as well.”
The county hopes for an outcome that would honor the state’s wishes.
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“In my discussions with the board, we, at the end of the day, want to be the best partners with the State of Florida in the development of that parcel, and I’m sure they will provide the direction of what that vision is,” Hofstad said.
Jones referenced an email from Commissioner Craig Coffey to Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection. He said the email contained a proposed lease with strike-throughs for the DEP to consider, which concerned him because it suggested the county does not intend to follow land-use regulations.
“In Mr. Coffey’s strike-throughs, the draft that came from the DEP says, ‘Compliance with laws: the lessee agrees that this lease is contingent upon and subject to the lessee obtaining all applicable permits and complying’ — That was struck by Mr. Coffee — ‘and shall comply with all applicable permits’ — again, ‘permits’ struck — ‘federal, state and Okaloosa County rules and regulations,’ and he added, ‘no municipal government ordinances,’ Jones said, reading from the proposed lease. “In essence, [they] don’t intend to comply with the City of Destin’s land-use regulations.”’
Jones said Okaloosa County Commissioner Drew Palmer had agreed to add a previous proposal the city had made about the development of Norriego Point to a BCC meeting agenda, but failed to do so and offered no explanation.
“Part of the level of frustration from the city’s side is we’ve made presentations to the board. We’ve offered some parking. Your commissioner would not bring it to the board for a vote. … We have been upfront, and I think we have offered more than one opportunity of good faith to work this thing out together.”
Palmer addressed this during public comment at last week’s meeting.
“The email that I have from [Jones] that summarized our meeting, in bullet point number three, it says, ‘if approved by the Destin City Council, Commissioner Palmer will place the proposal on the agenda for consideration by the Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners at its next available meeting. That was, at the time, July 14. The reason that it wasn’t placed on that agenda was because it was not approved as we had negotiated, and as I had previously negotiated with Councilman Destin and your City Attorney.”
Destin and county residents have their own concerns, with many speaking out during the public comment section of last week’s meeting.
In 2025, the State of Florida purchased Norriego Point for $83 million, which was significantly higher than the property’s assessed value. Alan Osborne said county commissioners acted above the board’s head to negotiate the property’s purchase with the promise of developing a state-owned park.
“There’s never been a commercial marina here, and the reason we’re in this position is Mr. Coffey lied. He lied. There’s no income, never was gonna be income for a commercial marina, because it [the land] wasn’t permitted as a commercial marina. We lied to the cabinet, so if he hadn’t told those lies maybe they [the state] wouldn’t be expecting this revenue.”
Gene Earley said one commissioner in particular caused the entire conflict about who should manage Norriego Point.
“When I asked Paul Mixon when he was gonna throw the bullshit flag on this, he said, ‘It’s interesting to watch.’ He could’ve corrected this stuff a year ago, and he says it’s interesting to watch,” Earley said. “ … Paul did this stuff without y’all’s approval. We’ve validated that so many times it’s not even funny. It’s beating a dead horse, but the problem we’ve got right now is y’all’s commissioners have not voted on this or put this on the agenda or even done anything.”
Okaloosa County has taken no official action on the property, and next steps include another public meeting.
“This meeting … is followed, then, by another meeting that they’re currently scheduling which will involve the local governments’ governing boards, so it’ll be another meeting on this topic taking the advice that they get from this meeting, and it’ll actually be a sit-down with both full governing boards in the same room, and that is intended to be a decision-making meeting,” meeting facilitator Steve Hall said.
This is a developing story and Mid Bay News will continue to report as things progress.
