Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) Aug. 24 regular meeting and Aug. 26 land use meeting [PREMIUM]

Aug. 24 regular meeting and Aug. 26 land use meeting

A yes vote was to approve the motion.

Aug. 24 regular meeting

Request by South Walton High School student Hannah Smith for permission to implement and fund a pilot program at Grayton Beach providing baskets and encouraging people to pick up litter as they walk along the beach.

After BCC and staff discussion a motion to approve the request carried unanimously: Tony Anderson-yes; Mike Barker-yes; Danny Glidewell-yes; Boots McCormick-yes; Trey Nick-yes.

Presentation by Mike Adkinson, Walton County sheriff, in recognition of Walton County Fire Rescue, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division, for having earned three-year accreditation by the Commission on Ambulance Accreditation Services.

Approved unanimously was a motion to have county staff author a resolution recognizing the accreditation and have the BCC chairman sign it and present it to Sheriff Adkinson.

Request by Adkinson for the county to look into assisting the Walton County Sheriff’s Office on viable options for an alteration to the road providing for entrance to the WCSO so that the entrance would no longer be located at the back of the building. This was requested to avoid security issues.

There was a motion by Anderson to direct staff to assist the WCSO with this issue and to bring back estimated cost for solutions to address the problem.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request by Adkinson for permission for WCSO legal counsel to negotiate with owners of the Gaskin, Freeport and Peach Creek communications towers on behalf of the county in the interest of getting the best deal for Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System (SLERS) radio antennas on the towers, with terms of negotiations to be brought back before the BCC for consideration of ratification and approval.

A motion to grant this permission carried unanimously.

Request by Bill Imfeld, Walton County Economic Development Alliance (EDA) director, for approval for the county to submit as co-applicant for state Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Florida Job Growth Grant Funds, with the city of DeFuniak Springs having approved the city participating as joint applicant at the Aug. 23 city council meeting. This is related to water, sewer, and roadway projects efforts.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Request by Imfeld for consideration of a proposal by Monolithic Building Systems for the purchase of 6.2 acres in the county-owned Mossy Head Industrial Park for $120,000 to be paid to the county, with the property to be used for a factory to produce polystyrene panels for the construction industry.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Request by Larry Jones, county administrator, for approval to advertise a request for proposals (RFP), which was presented, for firms to design, build and maintain a mobile app for booking of beach equipment rentals through managed vendor programs at nine regional beach accesses and 20 neighborhood beach accesses and for providing information on other beach amenities, including beach safety.

Approved unanimously after BCC and staff discussion and public comment was a motion for approval.

Request by Jones for direction on a new records storage facility that had been identified as an urgent need in a recent meeting between the BCC, county staff and constitutional officers.

There was a motion by Glidewell to give staff direction to bring back a plan for a new records storage facility, with the facility envisioned for an area near the courthouse and to duplicate one already in place in the vicinity. After discussion the motion was clarified to state that the county administrator would be authorized to issue an RFP that would mirror the previous one that had been used for the existing storage facility. Funding for the estimated $1 million facility was identified in current budget year reserves.

The motion was approved unanimously following BCC and staff discussion and public comment.

Following a request by Clay Adkinson, acting county attorney, there was a motion by Glidewell to schedule a Sept. 14 public hearing to consider a budget amendment related to funding for the new records storage facility.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of Ascension Sacred Heart to advertise a public hearing to 

consider renewal of an ordinance providing a levy against the hospitals within Walton County that provide indigent care to increase funding available for these services.

A motion for approval by Anderson carried unanimously. 

Request by Jones to schedule a staff public workshops to discuss possible changes to the Walton County Beach Activities Ordinance. Workshop dates proposed were Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, both from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the South Walton Annex.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Request by Jones for approval of a job description, which was presented, for the operations inspector who had been hired at the Aug. 10 BCC meeting.

Approved 4-1 after BCC discussion and public comment was a motion for approval by Glidewell: Barker-yes; Glidewell-yes; McCormick-yes; Nick-yes; Anderson-no.

Recommendation by Buddy Wright of Walton County Public Works that the county not accept the request of a representative of the homeowner’s association for Paradise Cove for the county to take over maintenance of Emma Grace Lane and Blakely Drew Boulevard. The recommendation was due to the roads being private roads reserved to homeowners and the roads having only 40 feet of right-of-way width. The standard for county roads is a 50-foot-wide right-of-way.

There was a motion by McCormick to accept the recommendation and deny the county taking over maintenance of the roads.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Recommendation by Wright regarding a similar request regarding Spotted Dolphin Road. The recommendation was for the county to take over maintenance due to the road meeting all county road standards and being in good condition.

There was a motion by Anderson to accept the recommendation and for the county to take over maintenance of Spotted Dolphin Road.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of Office of Management and Budget to advertise and hold a public hearing to amend the tourism department’s current fiscal year budget in the to bring forward $5.5 million in reserves to purchase the Mead property in Miramar Beach as approved by the BCC on Aug. 10.

There was a motion by Glidewell to advertise and hold the public hearing.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Presentation by Brian Kellenberger, tourism department director of beach operations, of conceptual plan for the Grayton Beach Transit Facility, to be located on the county-owned property on CR-283.

There was a motion by Glidewell to approve the conceptual plan. The motion was approved unanimously after BCC discussion and public comment.

Presentation by Kellenberger of three options for the Eastern Lake Parking Project on Eastern Lake Road. His recommendation was for approval of Conceptual Plan C, a plan with a higher ratio of golf cart parking.

Approved unanimously following public comment was a motion by Glidewell for approval of the recommendation (Conceptual Plan C).

Request by Kellenberger for approval of a task order for design and permitting services for the Headland Avenue public beach access and for permission to issue the task order to the engineer who had done work on the project previously before it was delayed by litigation.

Approved unanimously after public comment and additional comments by Kellenberger was a motion for approval by Glidewell.

Request by Kellenberger for approval of up to $10,000 in bed tax funding for the Oyster Lake Beautification Project, a partnership landscaping effort in cooperation with Scenic Walton, with the tourism department to serve as primary maintainer of the landscaping.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Public hearing to consider approving and authorizing the BCC chairman to sign a resolution to reimpose and provide for collection of special assessments in the Daughette Canal Municipal Service Benefit Unit for the 2021-22 fiscal year, with no change in fees proposed from the current year rate.

There was a motion for approval by Glidewell.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Public hearing to consider approving and authorizing the BCC chairman to sign a resolution reimposing and providing for the collection of special assessments in the area serviced by Walton County Fire Rescue in the 2021-22 fiscal year for funding of fire rescue services, with no changes in fees proposed from the current year rate.

Approved unanimously following BCC and staff discussion and public comment was a motion for approval by McCormick.

Public hearing to consider approving and authorizing the BCC chairman to sign a resolution to bring forward $3.7 million in General Fund Reserves for the purchase of the Mojo Building and associated costs to prepare the building for use by the county as previously approved by the BCC.

Approved unanimously following BCC and staff discussion was a motion for approval by Glidewell.

Request and motion by Barker to direct staff to take a look at the bicycle-pedestrian path along CR-30A to see if any portions of the path need attention for safety reasons and direction to staff to bring forward a plan to repair those sections, if any, so that they will not pose a danger to people using the path.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request by Kristen Shell, Walton County planning manager, for approval to continue the current rate for sidewalk buy-out for developments at $42.90 per linear foot ($8.58 per square foot times a five-foot width).

Approved unanimously after BCC discussion was a motion by Anderson to approve the sidewalk buy-out rate as requested and direct staff to bring back a plan to eliminate sidewalk buy-outs in the future.

Approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda were the following: $120,019 proposal from Dewberry Engineering for design services on the new Choctaw Beach Fire Station project; appointment of Charlie Simmons to the Walton County Redistricting Committee to replace Bill Chapman, who had originally been appointed to the committee but had resigned; and appointment of Micah Davis Walton County Tourist Development Council (TDC) Seat 8, which had recently been vacated by the resignation of Matt Hagen. The latter appointment was the result of the BCC approving a request by tourism department staff to review previously-submitted applications for council membership and reach out to applicants.

Removed was the following agenda item in order to allow for “better communication information” per Jones: request for approval to prepare and submit a joint application for Triumph Gulf Coast grant funding to facilitate the second phase of the project to install water and sewer along U.S. 331. Also removed was an item put on the agenda by Jason Cutshaw, tourism department interim director, Keep America Beautiful update. The removal was due to Cutshaw being out for arm surgery.

Aug. 26 land use meeting

Request by Kristen Shell for approval of a resolution establishing methodology to inform project applicants how to calculate rent and sales price in order to know if they are able to use any bonuses contained in the Walton County Land Development Code (LDC) associated with affordable housing projects.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Presentation by Stephen Schoen of Walton County Planning and Development Services of Affordable Housing Comprehensive Text Amendments related to conformity with statutory changes and interpretation of the various levels of affordable housing, as well as to the review and approval processes associated with affordable housing development, including bonuses and location criteria. A substantial change contained in the amendment was that an expedited review process would apply to affordable housing projects that were 100 percent affordable housing.

There was a motion by Glidewell to transmit the amendment for state review.

The motion was approved unanimously.

First reading of Affordable Housing Land Development Code Text Amendments, text amendments applying to chapters one and two of the LDC.  The proposed amendments were related to conformity with statutory changes and interpretation of the various levels of affordable housing, as well as to the review and approval processes associated with affordable housing development, including definitions, bonuses, and location criteria.

These were to implement the Affordable Housing Comprehensive Plan Text Amendments. These LDC amendments would provide for affordable housing projects, including mixed-use projects containing affordable housing, with 100 percent of dwelling units devoted to affordable housing, projects that satisfy submittal requirements, to be reviewed as minor developments. The amendments would allow the county’s affordable housing density program to be used within Rural Village, Mixed Use, and Neighborhood Infill zoning districts. It was clarified that affordable meant an income of 120 percent of the median income for the county or below.

There was a motion by Glidewell to move the LDC text amendments forward to a required second reading.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Adoption hearing for the Nokuse Future Land Use Amendment with Rezoning. This was a request to extend the 55,000-acre nature preserve’s to 59 parcels (a total of 6,948+ acres) recently acquired by Nokuse Education, Inc., and associated organizations. The parcels may generally be accessed from SR-20 and/or U.S. 331, with their use to be limited to conservation.

A motion for approval by Anderson carried unanimously.

Adoption hearing for the Black Creek Future Land Use Map Amendment with Rezoning, a request by Walton County to transmit a large-scale amendment to change nine parcels totaling 589.98 acres within the Black Creek Special Planning Area (BCSPA) to a Residential and Mixed use land use—and to change the zoning district on the parcels from the BCSPA Low Density Residential and Rural Town Center to Urban Residential and Village Mixed use. The parcels are accessed off CR-3280 north of the bay.

         The parcels are surrounded by conservation property owned by Nokuse.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Presentation by Shell of Property Rights Element Comprehensive Plan Text Amendments to create a Property Rights Element in the Walton County Comprehensive Plan as mandated by state legislation. She also brought forward a request by the Walton County Planning Commission for the BCC to authorize the to hold workshops to discuss a recommendation document from the 1000 Friends of Florida provided in response to the state mandate.

There was a motion by McCormick to transmit the amendments for state review. The motion was approved unanimously. There was no action on the request regarding the 1,000 Friends of Florida document, but there was direction for staff to reach out to individual commissioners about the recommendations.

Request by VQ Development for approval of Nautilus Pointe @ Inlet Beach, consisting of a 32-lot subdivision and pool amenity on 4.11 acres at 143 Walton Palm Road in Inlet Beach.

Following BCC and staff discussion and public comment, there was a motion by Anderson to approve the request with conditions agreed to by the applicants.

The motion was approved 4-1: Anderson-yes; Barker-yes; Nick-yes; McCormick-yes; Glidewell-no.

Request by JS Partners Grace, L.L.C., for approval of Prominence – Development of Regional Impact (DRI) Amendment #2 (Grace Point), an amendment of the existing DRI providing for removal of 0.48 acres and request for a 0.67-acre preservation buy-out, all in Grace Point within the Prominence development, approximately two miles from the South Watersound Parkway/CR-30A intersection on Grace Point Way.

After BCC and staff discussion and public comment, a motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Companion request by JS Partners Grace, L.L.C., for approval of Prominence – Planned Unit Development (PUD) Amendment #2 (Grace Point), an amendment of the existing PUD providing for removal of 0.48 acres and request for a 0.67-acre preservation buy-out, all in Grace Point within the Prominence development, approximately two miles from the Watersound Parkway South/CR-30A intersection on Grace Point Way.

A motion for approval by Glidewell carried unanimously.

Request on behalf of WaterSound Beach Club, L.L.C. related to the previous two items, providing for the addition of 0.48 acres from the Prominence PUD to the Watersound PUD and a corresponding traffic equivalency matrix to the Watersound PUD, the location being approximately two miles west of the Watersound Parkway South /CR-30A intersection.

Following presentations and BCC and staff discussion, there was a motion for approval by Anderson.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of The Watersound Company, L.L.C., for approval of Watersound Origins Phase 7, consisting of 72 single-family lots and associated infrastructure on 54.11 acres located approximately 0.7 mile from the U.S. 98/Watersound Parkway North intersection, at the end of Log Landing Street.

After presentations, there was a motion for approval by Glidewell.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of S&L Karian Properties, L.L.C., for approval of the Beach Club Plat, consisting of the platting of 15 lots for a single-family townhome development on 3.32 acres on Tops’l Beach Boulevard within the Tops’l DRI, approximately 261 feet south of U.S. 98 on the east side of the boulevard.

Following presentations, there was a motion for approval by Anderson. The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of Forestar Real Estate Group, Inc., for approval of the Walton’s Landing Plat, consisting of the platting of 73 single-family lots, 98 townhomes, and associated infrastructure on 38.22 acres on the northwest corner of Nellie Drive and Chat Holley Road.

Following presentations there was a motion by Anderson for approval of the final plat.

The motion was approved unanimously.

Request on behalf of Rare Earth, Inc., for approval of the Cove at Santa Rosa Replat, consisting of the platting of 10 single-family lots on 2.51 acres located approximately 0.02 mile south of Sea Croft Drive at the intersection of Maxwell Avenue and Carefree Lane.

A motion for approval by Anderson carried unanimously.

Approved unanimously was a request to table the Towneplace Suites hotel proposal, resulting in tabling of the item.

One agenda item, the Lot 20, 22, & 23 Hidden Highlands Abandonment, was continued for a 90-day period or less to allow staff time to create a global solution to access in the area of the proposed abandonment for improvement of traffic flow, with the item to be re-advertised at county expense if staff is not able to bring forward this proposed global resolution. The 90-day continuance was approved unanimously.

Continued to the Sept. 23 BCC meeting was another agenda item, the Walton County Civic Use Large Scale Amendment (LSA) and Zoning Change.