Enforcement of proposed beach regulations was the primary issue at a recent Walton County Commission meeting.
“We just can’t seem to get enforcement in this county,” Santa Rosa Ridge resident Mary Nielson said of the upcoming Waterways and Beach Activities Ordinance.
After three public workshops, revisions, inclusions and deletions in the existing beach activities law, interim County Administrator Gerry Demers brought what he thought might be the final draft before commissioners last week. However, after hearing from residents again, the proposals ultimately will be pushed back to allow for more revisions.
Demers said previously that the law was intended to compile and clarify existing beach activity regulations and make them more enforceable.
Residents who attended the meeting asked how that would be accomplished.
“How it works in practicality, in the real world, is not necessarily something we’ll know,” said Clay Adkinson, who was sitting in for County Attorney Toni Craig, who was ill.
Much of the discussion concerned a proposal that would allow visitors to buy permits to bring a dog to the beach. Most residents didn’t like it.
“It’s a grave concern for those who live on the beach,” said Sharon O’Keegan.
O’Keegan, a grandmother of six, said when her grandchildren visit her, “I don’t want them to put their face in the sand and come up with poop on it.”
Others had similar comments.
Marion Victor said he watched a jogger with a dog pass his window recently when the dog relieved itself on the beach. The owner covered it with sand and kept jogging.
The problem is “they stop, leave what they want,” Victor said.
He fears that more pets on the beach will cause the area to lose its appeal to visitors.
“This area is known for a couple of reasons: white beaches, clean water, no crime. I’d like to see this preserved,” he said.
Most people said the problem with the ordinance was that it did not have a step-by-step enforcement plan.
“Let’s go back to the drawing board and let’s look at enforcement as far as dogs go,” Nielson said.
After more revisions, county commissioners will consider the law at their meeting at 8 a.m. Jan. 22 in DeFuniak Springs.
Bob Hudson, executive director of the Walton County Taxpayers Association, offered advice to the board.
“Don’t pass ordinances that the county is not willing to put the money up to enforce.”
Walton Sun Staff Writer Molly Mosher can be reached at 850-654-8445 or mmosher@waltonsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @WaltonSunMolly.
