‘A RECIPE FOR DISASTER'? City leaders agree to address boat parking on eroded Norriego Point

If city leaders have their way, sooner rather than later, boaters would be temporarily restricted from where they can park their boats on Norriego Point.

“It’s extremely hazardous out there,” Public Services Director Steve Schmidt said. “There are people actually pulled up on the point and actually swimming off the back of their boat in the channel. We’ve got jet skis, standup paddleboards, kayaks, everything going back and forth out there — it’s a recipe for disaster.”

During Monday night’s City Council meeting, Schmidt told city leaders that the city’s blue ribbon panel, which has been tasked with finding protection methods and stabilization options for Norriego Point, had suggested passing an ordinance that would limit watercraft from parking on the portion of the point “where the tip has effectively accreted into the Old Pass Lagoon channel.”

The topic garnered a lot of discussion during the panels first meeting in terms of how far from the tip of the point the line should be drawn. For Schmidt though, it’s more of an intent issue, than a distance issue.

“The point is changing weekly, so I deliberately left off a distance,” he told The Log Tuesday morning. “The intent, realistically, is to try and do something temporary during the season — it’s safety for the public and for navigational traffic.”

Looking at the issue, Schmidt told city leaders there are some Florida statutes that pertain to the mooring and anchoring of boats, in which they cannot limit the available areas unless they provided another arrangement for mooring.  Another possible sticking point is the city’s deed agreement with Okaloosa County that transferred control of the point to the city.

There is a provision in the deed that addresses recreational vehicles and activities on the harbor side of the point, but Schmidt said he is under the impression that the county “intended, based on the language, for it to address navigational issues.”

“I think it was more addressing the hardening of the point,” he said. “However… I think it’s incumbent on us before passing or creating this ordinance to get approval.”

Councilman Dewey Destin wasn’t so sure about the idea, telling city leaders that the blue ribbon panel shouldn’t be producing rules that govern the parking of boats.

“They specifically put that language in there to thwart us,” he said. “And we are going to ‘step into a pile’ as they say if we go forward with this, and it’s going to be very controversial. I think we better stick with armoring the point; when we get through we might have accomplished this task. We don’t need this controversy.”

Agreeing with Destin to some degree, Councilwoman Sandy Trammell motioned to have city staff work with Okaloosa County to come to a solution for addressing the mooring issues on Norriego Point.

“It’s definitely a safety issue,” she said.

City leaders passed the motion unanimously.

For his part, Capt. Steve Wilson pleaded with the council to take immediate action. Wilson said he has made more than 8,000 trips in and out of the channel and it’s a hazard.

“I urge you to please move forward with this,” the captain of Southern Star dolphin cruises said. “Please don’t wait. This is too important, let’s see if we can do this before someone gets hurt.”

A motion to reconsider the item was made by Councilman Larry Hines after the council had voted, but he didn’t receive a second, so the request was denied. Hines wanted to pass an ordinance that would not allow boats to dock 250 feet from the tip of the point.