Walton approves revised Leave No Trace law

The Walton County Commission has approved a revised Leave No Trace ordinance that establishes a protocol for what happens to items left on the beach overnight.

Code enforcement officers will enforce the law, which took effect Wednesday. The county's Tourist Development Council will publicize the regulations and educate visitors and residents.

The TDC also will implement a "beach ambassador" program from spring break to the end of turtle-nesting season in Novem-ber. The ambassador will talk to beachgoers about the Leave No Trace law as well as beach rules and safety.
Sonny Mares, the TDC's executive director, said that position will be filled in-house.

"One of our beach maintenance staff who has been selected will be doing this work during that period of time," Mares said.
The maintenance person will return to his or her normal duties from December to February, he added.

If the ambassador finds items that have been left on the beach, a code enforcement officer will tag them with a note that says the owner has 24 hours to remove them.

If the items are not removed, they will be collected and taken to a storage area, where they will be kept for 48 hours before they are discarded.

There are some exceptions. For example, the law states that code enforcement officers "will issue permits for larger items and items that are bundled and placed at the toe of the dune. This will allow for storage of kayaks, volleyball nets and items used by beach vendors."

Anyone who has a question or complaint about the revised ordinance can call the county's code enforcement office at 622-0000.

Under the old law, sheriff's deputies tagged items left on the beach and the TDC staff picked them up and threw them away.

That ordinance was suspended in January. Because it was undergoing revisions, TDC staffers were instructed just before Me-morial Day to stop throwing away items.

Although the new ordinance took effect Wednesday, Mares said it will not be in full swing until the beach ambassador is named and new tags with proper language are printed. The tags will tell owners where they can pick up items that were removed from the beach, and "tells them clearly that if they leave it (on the beach), we consider it abandoned," said Gerry Demers, the county's director of development services who oversees code enforcement.