Doodle Harris wants to change zoning; Increase densities in Old Seagrove

[Smiling JOe]

I wonder what it means in terms of zoning if the Land Use is OCN FT (obviously oceanfront) or HWY 30-A? Just clicking parcel by parcel on the parcel map in large area where there are only single-family houses, some houses/parcels near us adjacent to 30-A are designated with a Land Use of "HWY 30-A" and others are SFR.

What you are looking at is not "land use." I believe it is a definition used in appraising the property for property type to help determine assessed value.

Seacrest Beach is zoned as NPA-TND(neighborhood planning area - Traditional Neighborhood Development Projects.

The property across the street to the south, Paradise by the Sea, is zoned NPA-RP (Residential Preservation).

 

[Beach Runner]

What you are looking at is not "land use."

Thanks. I'll follow your advice from post #14.

 

[SHELLY]

I hope people who come to the meetings make this point. Loudly.

....and try to work the name "Doodle" into your argument as many times as you can.

 

[SGB]

I spoke with the planning dept the other day. It appears that all of old seagrove is currently "Residential Preservation". Apparently because the lots along the beach in Old Seagrove weren't officially part of a subdivision(some of them were actually supposed to be a park!), which is part of the definition of Residential Preservation, the planning dept seems to think that it is ok to now make these lots Infill instead of Residential Preservation.

Once one (or in this case multiple) lots along 30A in Old Seagrove get reclassified Infill, you might as well assume they all will at some point. If something is classified Infill, then you can build multifamily dwellings.

Unless you want to see the beachfront of Old Seagrove turn into a wall of condos, please show up at the meeting on the 8th. It's our only hope of turning this around. If you can't make the meeting, please send a letter, via the planning dept, to the Planning Commision letting them know your views.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Sounds like we need some new county commissioners who aren't in the developers pockets.

As far as Doodle is concerned, you won't be able to do that. He had land dealings with my parents, and my dad has been gone for over twenty years. Mr Harris needed a tax writeoff several years back, so he bought all new equipment (sorely needed) and new uniforms for ALL of Walton County's youth football teams. In return, he got a public facility in DeFuniak named for him. :roll:

The best things to do is to go to the planning commission meeting and the BCC meeting and, without pointing fingers at the Harris family, make your opposition to the zoning change known.

 

[Sandcastle]

The property across the street to the south, Paradise by the Sea, is zoned NPA-RP (Residential Preservation).

I spoke with a couple the other day who said they sold a Gulf-front lot in Paradise by the Sea to Doodle earlier this year. It sounds like he's preparing to relocate to a more secluded location.

 

[waltondude]

A few years ago the private homeowners in Sugar Cliffs sued (Case Number 01CA000478, Sugar Cliffs Owners Assoc. vs. Walton County) stating that the easement on which the walkover was built was never properly recorded. :

I must be missing something. How is this the fault of local officials if it went to court and a judge made the decision that it was no longer public? Local officials fought to keep the access, did they not?

 

[Beach Runner]

If you can't make the meeting, please send a letter, via the planning dept, to the Planning Commision letting them know your views.

I want to write a letter, but everything I would say would just be opinion. I don't have any quantitative data to back up what I say. I'm against high-density developments thrown in the middle of residential areas. What Doodle (and others, such as one who is planning to put 8 houses on a beachfront 1.1 acre lot in a residential area near me) is trying to do will totally change the character of these neighborhoods. And can 30-A really support the additional traffic generated by high-density developments? Is it going to get to the point that 30-A will have to be four-laned to support the traffic from all of the development? Another Destin with a bunch of condos - please, no! There are other posters on this board who are against developing beachfront (well, as close to the beach as Doodle's property is) so that primary and secondary dunes will develop over time that will protect EVERYONE behind them (sort of like the multiple levels of dunes at Amelia Island Plantation). Others feel that it is unconscionable to build as close to the water's edge as Doodle is proposing, knowing that it's inevitable that these structures will fall into the water (just think about how much beachfront property has caved in in the past two years).

Has a traffic study been done on the impact of more construction on 30-A? If not, shouldn't there be a moratorium on construction until the impact of further development can be studied? Or is it just all about money? Nobody really cares about how something that makes them a profit affects their neighborhood or the environment?

Anyhow, I have a lot of opinions, but without any facts to back be up, I think my letter would be pointless.

BTW what is the address of the planning commission?

Disclaimer: I obviously have no expertise on these matters. I basically just want 30-A to maintain its uniqueness and charm; high-density developments and four-laning are the antithesis of this . I also hate that the "grove" is close to being taken out of Seagrove (Doodle certainly has done his share to remove it, as per http://www.defuniakherald.com/jan6.html ). I guess if he and others have their way, Seagrove should be renamed since the groves will all have to be removed to make room for high-density developments. And then - oh, goody - more non-native palms can be planted.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Looks like you just wrote a letter BR.

I think it's too late for mail. Anyone have a fax number?

 

[Beach Runner]

Looks like you just wrote a letter BR.

I think it's too late for mail. Anyone have a fax number?

Not really. It only costs $13.65 to overnight it.