Bustling boat ramps: More seeking free passes to Joe’s Bayou

A few years ago, Destin took steps to keep boaters from parking their trailers up and down Beach Drive while they used the Joe’s Bayou Boat Ramps.

Recreation Manager Lance Johnson told The Log that from what he sees this year, it’s working: “It’s busy, but to my knowledge, the people from Joe’s are not parking along the roadway.”

As the only public boat ramps between Niceville’s Swift Bayou or Fort Walton Beach’s Marler Park, the ramps have drawn a large number of boaters from out of town, particularly during summer. In 2002, the City Council decided to cut back on use by raising fees: Day passes were doubled to $10, while annual passes were raised for out-of-towners from $75 to $100. Destin residents’ annual passes remained at $30.

Subsequently, city staff told the council that the higher fees hadn’t discouraged usage any, though it had paid for more staff. Johnson told The Log that his department usually has two employees there on weekdays and tries to provide more staffing on busy weekends.

The city took other steps to solve the Beach Drive parking problem, including building an overflow parking lot at Mattie Kelly Park on the opposite side of the street.

In 2004, the city began budgeting for Destin residents to take out free boat passes, available at City Hall and the Community Center to people living within city limits.

In the 2006/7 fiscal year, Destin issued 525 annual passes. In the current fiscal year, which began October 2007, the city had issued 1,923 daily passes to use the boat ramps by the beginning of this month. It had issued 577 free passes.

A letter to The Log recently asked why the program was only for residents, whether owner or renter, and not for property owners.

At the time the program was put in place, City Attorney Jerry Miller said there were legal technicalities that might make that unworkable. This month,

Mayor Craig Barker told The Log that the city’s budget, and the revenue cuts imposed by a new property tax cutting amendment to the state Constitution made expanding the range of the program impractical.

“We know there are over 27,000 second and third vacation home owners,” Barker said. “You run the math on that. And that doesn’t even include business property owners. With Amendment One, it’s probably not a very good time to be considering an increased allocation.”