Emergency BCC Meeting - 8/1/05

[OhioBeachBum]

The suggestion that beach front homes be taken from homeowners is beyond the pale. If my home can be 'taken' from me, then I ask, is your home safe?

Unfortunately, my home, near a thousand miles from any ocean beach, is not "safe" either. Any collection of govermental manjacks who can put together a semi-plausable justification can heist my home (and any other tangible assets for that matter), using any number of legal "vehicles", all alleged to be in the "public interest".
Things have gotten pretty screwy in the last 25 years...

 

[Beachlover2]

It isn't just the last 25 years - my parents lost their home some 45 years ago because the city needed the property for a parking lot. They fought it - but in the end lost the battle and had to take what the judge determined to be "fair".

 

[OhioBeachBum]

I know...believe me, I am worried.
I understand that Florida has somewhat stronger protections against eminent domain abuse than some states, but I don't think it's enough. Worse, there have been some attempts to weaken what protection there is. Unless something gets put in place to stop it now (while the Kelo v. New London ruling is still fresh), then I fully expect it to start happening in South Walton before the end of this decade.

There is already noise in Ohio congressional circles about a legislatively imposed 2-year moritorium on ANY exercise of eminent domain in the state - while the subject is "studied" to consider what if any subsequent legislation may be neccessary to eliminate, or at least severely hobble, the doors opened by that ruling. And this in a state that has been quite busy seizing private assets under various other (forfeiture) laws.

Interesting that the outcry didn't begin until some of the deeper pocket folks began to vew themselves and their assets as potentially "vunerable"...

 

[JB]

If there is one positive to Florida's eminent domain laws, it is that the state must pay "fair market value" for any property it claims under E.D. Case in point is the guy in the 'glades who held out for years against the state. He ended up pocketing $4 million for a piece of property not worth half that.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/06/everglades.holdout.ap/

 

[Fanceenan]

I agree with ShallowsNole and Sarawind! I am a gulf front owner at Blue Mtn Beach. We bought our place 20 years ago and did not dream it could fall into the ocean! We had probably 40 feet or so of sanddunes in front of us. I am a retired teacher and my husband is a state employee. We are not rich. I am pleased they have increased quality of the sand at BMB and elsewhere, but you folks really do offend me with your " they got what they deserved attitude". We followed the rules at the time. We did not build illegally; we have worked hard to keep our place. All the other hurricanes, including Opal, did not affect us like this one has! Remember, not all gulf front owners are millionaires! I want a beautiful beach too. Isn't there some way to improve the beaches and NOT have us fall into the ocean! I really enjoy reading and keeping up with the news on this site! This time is difficult enough for us, without having people gloating and saying we got what we deserved! We did not deserve this!!!
.

 

[TooFarTampa]

I agree with ShallowsNole and Sarawind! I am a gulf front owner at Blue Mtn Beach. We bought our place 20 years ago and did not dream it could fall into the ocean! We had probably 40 feet or so of sanddunes in front of us. I am a retired teacher and my husband is a state employee. We are not rich. I am pleased they have increased quality of the sand at BMB and elsewhere, but you folks really do offend me with your " they got what they deserved attitude". We followed the rules at the time. We did not build illegally; we have worked hard to keep our place. All the other hurricanes, including Opal, did not affect us like this one has! Remember, not all gulf front owners are millionaires! I want a beautiful beach too. Isn't there some way to improve the beaches and NOT have us fall into the ocean! I really enjoy reading and keeping up with the news on this site! This time is difficult enough for us, without having people gloating and saying we got what we deserved! We did not deserve this!!!
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I don't think anyone is gloating over what you are going through. I am sure this is a difficult and stressful time and I feel for you, as do the vast majority of us here.

The issue here is planning. If anyone is pooh-poohed or disregarded it is coastal experts, who as noted in other threads are generally academics and often not listened to because they are too negative. Well, the truth hurts. I'm not saying I have all the answers, and who knows what my opinion would have been 10 years ago, but structures that were approved and followed the county rules precisely still may not really belong there in the first place. The problem is it is so, so hard to take "the long view" when nobody can really project what will happen 10 or 50 years in the future. There is easy money to be made, by both developers and county and state governments, and there is a market for the product. Who wouldn't want to look out their back windows and see beautiful emerald waters and sugar white sand? So the development itself was inevitable. But as someone posted earlier in this thread, Mother Nature doesn't even know your house is there. (Great line, btw.)

Interesting -- I read a study online at the DEP's site about coastal erosion in Walton County. It was dated 2000, well before the development was rampant and the density increased dramatically. There was nothing in it to suggest that dramatic erosion was expected, unless a major storm came in (a la Opal) and ate away at the dunes. Which is obviously what has happened.

My question is, how will the increased density affect Mother Nature's natural ability to eventually restore the beaches? Has it gotten so we have no choice but to keep scraping and dredging? Beyond the need to help the homeowners who have gotten into this predicament, where do we go from here? Time to call in the academics...

 

[Smiling JOe]

I agree with ShallowsNole and Sarawind! I am a gulf front owner at Blue Mtn Beach. We bought our place 20 years ago and did not dream it could fall into the ocean! We had probably 40 feet or so of sanddunes in front of us. I am a retired teacher and my husband is a state employee. We are not rich. I am pleased they have increased quality of the sand at BMB and elsewhere, but you folks really do offend me with your " they got what they deserved attitude". We followed the rules at the time. We did not build illegally; we have worked hard to keep our place. All the other hurricanes, including Opal, did not affect us like this one has! Remember, not all gulf front owners are millionaires! I want a beautiful beach too. Isn't there some way to improve the beaches and NOT have us fall into the ocean! I really enjoy reading and keeping up with the news on this site! This time is difficult enough for us, without having people gloating and saying we got what we deserved! We did not deserve this!!!
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To clarify my previous statements, no matter how bad ones Karma may be, they don't "deserve" punishment. If I said so, it was in error. I do not know how to better say, in the bigger picture of life, that if you live on the edge, you are likely to get hurt. Only 40 feet of sand between you and the edge of the Gulf would be scarry to me, even before Opal. We live near a large body of water, that is known to be forceful and can reshape the earth in a matter of minutes. Simple deductive reasoning should raise a red flag when considering purchasing such a place. All that being said, you don't "deserve" punishment for your action of purchasing Gulf-front. You cannot run from Mother Nature, so you better learn to live with her ebb and flow.

 

[sarawind]

Time to use good common sense like the county did after Hurricane Opal. The method used then saved this beach for nearly 10 years. This is my personal experience on how the 'governnment' in South Walton works. A few days ago, I went to the annex to get a permit to repair our beach walkover. The first person had no idea what I wanted and sent me to person 2. Person 2 said, 'Oh, I''ve been here 3 months and don't know anything about permits. Person 3 got all excited and exclaimed, 'oh, I don't do hurricanes'. Person 4 told me he had only been on the job one day and as he came from the east coast he had no idea how to help me. Person 5 sent me to the tax collector who sent me to person 6 who told me to go to person 7 and get a copy of my deed. I still don't have a permit. I'm on a quest now.

 

[sarawind]

Maybe all the folks in California should have had the good sense not to build there as earthquakes happen. They must leave their homes, doncha think? Everyone along a river bank or on any coastal lands in the United States better pack up. Lightning may strike and tornadoes may spin by so people who live around that possibility better hit the road. Everyone around Mt. St. Helens should relocate. My word, stuff happens. Please belay the preaching.

 

[ktmeadows]

I agree with ShallowsNole and Sarawind! I am a gulf front owner at Blue Mtn Beach. We bought our place 20 years ago and did not dream it could fall into the ocean! We had probably 40 feet or so of sanddunes in front of us. I am a retired teacher and my husband is a state employee. We are not rich. I am pleased they have increased quality of the sand at BMB and elsewhere, but you folks really do offend me with your " they got what they deserved attitude". We followed the rules at the time. We did not build illegally; we have worked hard to keep our place. All the other hurricanes, including Opal, did not affect us like this one has! Remember, not all gulf front owners are millionaires! I want a beautiful beach too. Isn't there some way to improve the beaches and NOT have us fall into the ocean! I really enjoy reading and keeping up with the news on this site! This time is difficult enough for us, without having people gloating and saying we got what we deserved! We did not deserve this!!!
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Fanceenan, I don't agree that folks are gloating, but I understand how you might feel that way. I feel terrible for beachfront homewners like yourself who are struggling to protect their homes.

I wonder if some of the comments that you take offense to are based on frustration over the arrogance of a few(hopefully the minority) beachfront owners who see the beach in front of their homes as their property, and have fought tooth and nail to try to keep the public off of what they see as their private beach (I'm referring to the recent ruling in Destin). If they had their way, only the lucky few who happen to have property directly on the beach would be allowed to use the beach. Right now, Walton County is fighting a lawsuit filed by a bunch of greedy beachfront homeowners in Seagrove Beach over the Sugar Cliff public walkover. It is my understanding that it was deeded to the County several years ago, which the County acknowledges, but unfortunately it slipped through the cracks and was never officially recorded. Now the owners are trying to seize the beachwalk, claiming it has been abandoned, even though it was not their money that built it in the first place, and even though the county has maintained and rebuilt it after the recent storms. Sugar Cliffs beach access is a well-used walkover in the Seagrove Beach area! This is an example of greedy folks who would love to keep everyone off the beach except for a lucky few who happen to be beachfront homeowners! I believe the hearing is scheduled for August 18.

Unfortunately the actions of a few are making folks feel that all are guilty maybe?

Good luck with your home; I'm praying that our beaches don't see any more devestation for a long time! We deserve a break!