Proposed bathrooms at Inlet Beach public access

[BeachSiO2]

It is at the center located at the end of orange st. Where the "horseshoe" is. That site was chosen for ease of access for ADA purposes. It is the access where the ADA ramp is.
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[Matt J]

Regardless of what your Realtor tells you, if you have property not owned by you in front of you. There's always a chance you'll lose your view.

 

[SneakyPete]

Aww...not all teens are SneakyPetes. In fact I think my teens and their friends are far better teens than I was, way back when. Any crowd of teens, especially those heavy on the boys, seems to garner a winced eye and a clutched purse, but I haven't heard of anything serious going on in the south end. "SoWal Hoodlums" and "SoWal Crime" is really pretty dang wimpy. No street cred at all for the Sea Turtles. As an insider, I've seen far more lushy/douchy activity from the high society crowd down here than I have teens (hint: high class vomit in a $1000 a night home is still vomit), so, I don't agree that if you build it -- a public access -- it will draw a bad element. If you have a problem with litter or behavior, that's what the police are for. As Richard Ford wrote (paraphrased): you can't regret in advance and call it prudence. It's unfair to speculate that access equals deliquency and block a facility that a large majority would enjoy just to prevent even the possibility of inconvenience.

The fact is that SoWal is a destination because it's lively and fun. Sure it's beautiful, but there are plenty of other beautiful areas that don't have the vacation cache that SoWal does. Lively and fun means people. People mean problems. People also mean money. Reality is, SoWal cannot support it's businesses (or grow businesses that provide locals with conveniences) without an influx of cash from non-residents and non-owners. So it isn't enough just to tolerate off-beach locals and off-beach vacation renters, you have to ATTRACT them, even if that seems counter-intuitive.

 

[Smiling JOe]

with 100 parking spaces, I'd say that building a bathroom is very much needed at that access. I'd rather see that, then having people poop all over the beach.

Personally, I'd also be happy if the TDC were willing to place soap in all of the TDC restrooms. Think about changing a baby's diapers and not having soap with which to wash your hands afterwards, and your picnic lunch is waiting at the beach. GROSS!

Regarding the "hang out area," aka - covered breezeway, I love them! If you are at the beach, a covered shelter to which you can retreat for an hour break for lunch is a welcome relief from the intense sun. I wish we had more. It also can act as a decent storm shelter when our afternoon thunderstorms come out of nowhere.

 

[Bluznbeach]

From what I've seen so far, this may sound like a good idea in principle, but after what happened with those infamous signs, I'm afraid the county may get carried away again. I used to own a condo right across the road and would definitely be worried about the view if I were still there. Everybody concerned just needs to keep on top of this and keep asking questions.

 

[Smiling JOe]

From what I've seen, a ground floor unit wouldn't give you a Gulf view. You would need to be on the second floor to get any kind of distant Gulf view, and the restrooms proposed, shouldn't be tall enough to block that. If anything, it should be an improvement of the view to not have people peeing in the parking lot.

 

[BeachSiO2]

I looked back through my records and thought these may be of interest in regards to residents knowing about timing of the proposed project. One attachment shows the sign at the end of Orange Street and the other attachment shows the actual wording of the sign. Please note that the first noticed meeting was July 10, 2008 so the sign has been in place for over 10 months. Sorry about the large size but I wanted to make sure they were legible.

 

[scooterbug44]

What is the approximate size of the new bathrooms? If they are anything similar to the ones at the Watercolor/Seaside border, I have zero sympathy for the people complaining their view will be blocked.

 

[BeachSiO2]

What is the approximate size of the new bathrooms? If they are anything similar to the ones at the Watercolor/Seaside border, I have zero sympathy for the people complaining their view will be blocked.

They are VERY similar in architectural design and color as the one in Seaside/WaterColor (aka Van Ness Butler Jr. or VRB) however the elevation is slightly lower as it will have no cupola per the local resident's request. However, the Inlet facility retains the boxed louvers at the top that allow for cross ventilation since there is no air conditioning or fans inside, and the previous designs can become warm (hot) in the summer time. The facility consists of two restrooms that share a common roof. Each restroom is the the smallest size possible to contain three commodes (or two urinals and a commode in the mens) and a sink that would meet ADA compliance. This number of commodes/urinals is the same as Miramar Beach, Santa Clara, Gulfview Heights, Ed Walline, and VRB. The approximate building footprint including the shared walkway/breezeway is 46x24 and was modified from the VRB design per the residents request to limit impact to the natural environment. As I mentioned no scrub on the seaward side of the facility will be removed as part of the construction.

It is designed and expected to serve the visitors that use and will use the facility in the future as the need for more and more public access grows. Currently, the closest public access in Walton County with parking, restrooms and lifeguards to Inlet Beach is more than 10 miles east of this location in Seagrove. Based on estimates from existing and planned developments along HWY 98 east of Christian International, there could be as many as 1600 units and that does not include 30-A residents or Bay County users which is less than a mile away.

 

[scooterbug44]

If it's shorter than the cute little one at WC/Seaside and comparable in size to the other restrooms in the area, sounds like there isn't anything legitimate to complain about?