Members of Walton County’s Steering Committee met to discuss the future of the single most important cog of Walton County’s economy – tourism – and their strategic plan to steward the county’s beaches and coastal neighborhoods under the Visit South Walton umbrella to bring long-term economic benefits to the area.
The Committee, which consisted of members of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) and Tourism Development Council (TDC), discussed the County’s tourism readiness, expanding offerings for teenagers in the area, and their strategy to increase beach access to the public in the next several years.
The County hired Tourism Destination Consultantancy Jones Lang and LaSalle (JLL) to give them a starting point for a strategic plan. The plan, according to JLL Consultant Scott Beck, aims to maximize the government’s investment in South Walton’s tourism economy.
Beck described a tourism readiness index that takes 75 data points and spits out an idea of where the destination in question is in terms of its readiness. Beck noted that the pillars of the index included “Scale, Leisure, Environmental Readiness, Safety and Security, Concentration, Business, Urban Readiness, and Policy Prioritization.”
Information came from a survey that had about 1,000 respondents.
Beck took the Steering Committee through an exercise that compared South Walton to its competition, which includes:
He explained that South Walton’s strengths continued to be natural beauty and beaches, strong brand recognition, high-end accomodations and a strong destination marketing organization – Visit South Walton.
He added that the area’s weaknesses included the seasonality of the tourism industry, distance from airports, and concerns about the local infrastructure’s ability to manage the added strain from tourism.
Linda Frakes, a resident of Miramar Beach, pointed to additional developments underway in her area as a threat to the quality of life for residents and the quality of vacation for visitors. Members of the Tourism Development Council and Board of County Commissioners all agreed the arrayed government leaders needed to prioritize additional parking and shuttle services for visitors as a way to relieve congestion in the area – and proper use of the assets already on the ground to relieve congestion.
“I think it goes back to how we are communicating and educating,” said acting TDC Chair Amy Wise-Coble in reference to parking and beach traffic, “I think taking the number of [parking] spaces that [Former Director of Beach Operations and Current County Administrator] Brian [Kellenberger’s] current projects have added, parking spaces, and how many are to come on already approved plans – focusing more on shuttle availability.”
Wise-Coble added, “I wouldn’t go to Grayton Beach without getting on that shuttle. It [shuttle service] is efficient. It comes in a timely fashion. So there are a lot of positives that are happening that I think some locals have not caught up to [or are aware of] .”
According to JLL’s analysis, one of South Walton’s greatest strengths lies in the family-friendly atmosphere of the area.
But, Wise-Coble pointed out, there is a gap in the coverage of families South Walton needs to rectify. “We are very limited in what we have for teenagers to do. While we are a family-oriented destination, our small kids turn into teenagers, and that has presented a challenge in our local communities, because teens want to go somewhere and congregate. There is nothing else for them to do,” she said.
Neighborhoods in South Waton, like Seaside, implemented a 6PM curfew for unaccompanied minors after a fireworks incident on the 4th of July Weekend earlier this year.
JLL representatives responded by saying that opportunities will most likely arise for further diversification in family attractions and activities. Tiffany Edwards, TDC Council Member, speaking in favor of family-friendly (under 18 years of age) offerings, said, “I would love…to incentivize businesses to host or provide events or something for teens. I think that would be a great public/private partnership for us to explore.”
In the afternoon workshop with the BCC, Chairperson Donna Johns expressed the same concerns regarding opportunities for teens and the need to have activities for young people in South Walton.
TDC Council Member Tim Taylor highlighted the need for beach restoration across the whole of South Walton’s 26 miles of beaches.
A total beach nourishment, the process of dumping sand on the beach to reclaim land washed away by storms, would claim the waterfront from private property owners, who have had many high-profile incidents where employees or contractors have confronted beachgoers about trespassing on private land. Videos of the confrontations have gone viral on social media and could have possibly dissuaded people from visiting South Walton in favor of other vacation venues, which have not had the same issues.
The bill passed into law, but implementation has stuck in a quagmire of legal morass while attorneys, private land owners and other local stakeholders try to figure out – or sue one another to have the courts interpret what the new law means for everyone involved.
According to Taylor, once restoration is completed, the public will have much greater access to South Walton’s beaches. He emphasized that beach nourishment is the better solution because it allows visitors to move up and down the beach
Commissioner Dan Curry agreed with Taylor and advocated for an aggressive stance on beach nourishment, purchasing more beachfront property, and making access to the water easier. “We can’t sit and wait for the State [of Florida] or anybody else to nourish the beaches. We have to purchase beach access. We already don’t have parking spaces. I see it [referring to grievances and complaints] in [sic] social media. I see it in 10 emails a week – that everybody is mad because there is no beach, there is no beach, there is no beach. I think we need to focus on purchasing more beach…If nourishment comes, it comes. But we need to purchase beach. We can’t wait on handouts. We can’t wait on bureaucracy 5 years from now when we’re economically distraught because everybody is trying to “hourglass” their way into a ten-foot beach access point…We need to focus on beach purchasing more than anything.”
Commissioner Danny Glidewell was difficult to hear in the meeting due to limited microphones for the BCC and TDC workshop participants, but he could be heard to say that a good amount (estimated $70 million) of land had been purchased by the county for public use. He said, “The long-term salvation…is renourishment. We’ve got the money to get a good start on it [renourishing the beaches].” He indicated that the county has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers to procure a permit to begin the work, but [we] have not made much headway, and therefore, have been unable to get the ball rolling.
Discussion went back and forth between the benefits of nourishing the beaches and the purchase of beachfront property by the County. The problem with purchasing beach property is the expense, with limited benefits, because the amount of property purchased would not meet the general needs of the public. Commissioner Brad Drake expressed that buying this precious land is not in and of itself a bad thing, but indicated it is not the solution.
Tim Taylor added, “Renourishment would benefit every single resident in Walton County.”
A formal report will be presented by JLL to the TDC and the BCC in November. The County Commissioners expressed interest and enthusiasm in the work that is being done. The Commissioners also expressed interest in meeting regularly with the TDC to assess progress and support the successful implementation of the final strategic plan.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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