By DOTTY NIST
A meeting held in Walton County for public input on the ten-year Unit Management Plan for Topsail Hill Preserve State Park was well attended.
The Aug. 22 meeting hosted by the State Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Recreation and Parks (DRP), also known as the Florida Park Service, was held at the Northwest Florida State College South Walton Center in Santa Rosa Beach. Attendees had the chance to look at maps showing plans for the park and to talk one-on-one with park service personnel prior to a presentation at the meeting.
Over 1,640 acres in size, Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is located in Santa Rosa Beach and includes three miles of beachfront, along with coastal dune lakes, a large campground, old growth pines forests, sandy scrubland, dunes, wetlands, and more than a dozen imperiled species.
Daniel Alsentzer, planning manager for the DRP, began with a general introduction to the statewide park system and discussed the multi-layered park planning process. He noted that the local advisory group for Topsail Hill Preserve State Park had met the previous day to provide their input on the new 10-year management plan that is currently proposed for the park. Alsentzer said that DRP also engages with other local groups and with landowners adjacent to parks when a new ten-year management plan is under review, as well as taking input from the general public in the local area.
Alsentzer said that the next step for the ten-year plan would be submittal to the Division of State Lands, which serves as staff to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (the governor and cabinet).
He outlined elements of the ten-year plan, which include the addition and enhancement of day-use amenities, widening of the park’s tram path, a new open-air interpretive pavilion and similar interpretive features throughout the park, the addition of a tram shelter at the park’s existing beach access, new bicycle amenities, improvement of paddling launch facilities for access to Campbell Lake (one of the park’s dune lakes), and ongoing resource conservation and management throughout the park.
Alsentzer said there were plans to remove the existing swimming pool that was part of the campground before it was acquired for addition to the preserve. This was partly due to the age of the pool. According to the draft ten-year plan, “In addition to ongoing maintenance concerns, this removal will achieve alignment with the Florida Park Service Mission to provide passive resource-based recreation in natural settings. The park will continue to prioritize the Gulf beach for swimming and the dune lakes for other passive aquatic environmental experiences.”
Currently the only entrance to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is from CR-30A through the RV park area. As presented to the park advisory group, the draft plan had included the construction of a second entrance to the park off U.S. 98. This was to be at the original (now discontinued) park entrance at Topsail Hill Road. A new trailhead day use area and 12-vehicle parking area was part of the new entrance proposal.
However, Alsentzer told attendees that the new entrance and trailhead proposal had been withdrawn as a result of input from members of the advisory group, whose comments had included safety concerns due to the lack of a turn lane off U.S. 98.
He said park planning personnel would explore alternative ways to assist with public access to the park.
Not included with the proposed ten-year plan was a potential second, eastern entrance to the park and beach boardwalk or path that has been sought for a number of years by residents of the Cypress Dunes subdivision. Proposed to begin at Austinwood Lane off CR-30A in the vicinity of the subdivision, the boardwalk or path had been proposed by residents to follow a fire break in the park and lead to the beach. In December 2018, DRP had held a meeting in Walton County to take input on this potential new entrance.
“This plan does not include the east end entrance,” Alsentzer said of the proposed 10-year plan.
Cypress Dunes residents in attendance continued to advocate for the new eastern entrance and expressed willingness to provide funding for the entrance.
Cypress Dunes resident Janice Gaultney said she hoped the park planners would consider putting the new eastern entrance into the plan. She noted that west end CR-30A residents had been working on “a possible beach access” for eight years that would provide for over 600 residents to walk into the park and to the beach.
Other attendees spoke in opposition to the addition of the eastern entrance, with some strongly opposing any second entrance to the park.
“One access is all that is needed,” said Celeste Cobena, speaking for Beach to Bay Connection, a nonprofit organization advocating for preservation of public lands in south Walton County.
There were a number of comments in favor of the additional signage/interpretive features that are proposed as part of the plan. South Walton County resident Anita Page spoke of problems with people wandering through the park, having lost their bearings. She urged for all trails to be “delineated and marked.”
Alsentzer thanked attendees for their participation and comments.
It is anticipated that the new ten-year plan will be finalized by February 2020.