City council tackles golf carts, tennis, Scenic Hwy 98

Some items from Destin City Council’s Monday meeting that didn’t find space in our print edition:

•City staff told the council that a request from some east Destin residents to allow golf cars on parts of the Scenic Hwy. 98 sidewalk
wouldn’t fly because it’s not acceptable under Florida law.

Last month, residents of Destiny East and Destiny-by-the-Sea asked the council for the right to drive their golf carts to the beach and said the
pathway was designed with them in mind.

Richard Tomasello, president of the Destiny East Homeowners Association, said the city’s golf cart ordinance, which keeps golf carts off sidewalks and onto the streets in the form of modified low speed vehicles, is unsafe on Scenic Hwy. 98.

“We’re here for one thing only: The safety of our children,” Tomasello said. “We want to come up with a solution that keeps us safe and putting
us on the street with cars is not safe.”

Destiny residents believe that the tunnel and subsequent pathways were built for the expressed purpose of allowing golf carts to travel on them.

Tomasello presented the council a letter from Destiny developer Jay Odom who wrote that the pathways were created with golf carts in mind.
Kisela said there’s no written agreement with the developer to that effect, and no mention of golf carts in the city’s development order for
the project.

•Scenic Hwy. 98 resident Linda Cherry objected to the city’s plans to complete the renovation of the road. She said the second phase of the
three-part project had kept water out of the roadway but only by channeling onto sidewalks and private property: “I think there’s some very
grave concerns, and I’d like council to look into the engineering and how they’re dealing with stormwater runoff.”

“We took city water and sent it into people’s private lots,” Councilor Jim Bagby said in agreement. “I know we need to get water off the road, but there’s got to be a better plan … We’re taking hundreds of thousands of gallons off that road when it rains.”

Cherry said she’s also concerned that the medians will make driving during summer tourist traffic even harder for Crystal Beach residents: “To force me to turn east because I can’t turn west and to turn into the James Lee Park traffic … We’d like some consideration.”

Bomar, who made the presentation on the Phase III design, said there’d be a public workshop where Cherry and other residents would have a chance to air their concerns.

•Cherry also said that 30 percent of sea oats planted since beach restoration to stabilize the new dunes have been trampled upon.

“When I was a young kid, people used to take home sea oats as souvenirs,” Mayor Craig Barker said. “That became very much taboo and the problem ceased to exist. The last two or three decades … maybe it’s become a problem again.”

Barker suggests the TDC can tell people on its Web site that sea oats are protected and shouldn’t be damaged.

•Destin resident Betty Kenyon said she’s seen some beachgoers face a warning red flag, look around for a sign explaining what it means, and not find it because some signs are up by the road, not down on the sand.

The council directed City Manager Greg Kisela to see that the signs were placed where they’d be useful to beachgoers.

•The council voted to modify the city’s sidewalk and city resurfacing plans to comply with Destin’s “multimodal” approach to transportation,
which requires giving equal weight to non-car approaches.

Rather than resurfacing all of Kelly Avenue, Kisela said, the city will completely reconstruct the road, segment by segment, over three or four
years. The first segment will be between Beach and Benning Drives, Kisela said.

The council voted unanimously to make the change, and for a proposal to reallocate sidewalk funds from Choctaw, Magnolia and Lagoon Drives and Two Trees Road to widen the sidewalk on the south side of Gulf Shore Drive.

“It’s probably one of the most heavily used sidewalks that we have, especially during tourist season,” Kisela said.

•The council decided to wait until July before proceeding with a proposed city tennis club designed by a city contractor.

After Destin Racquet Club shut its doors, the city decided there was enough need for a community tennis center, and that it could be built on
city land next to the Public Works building. Because of the city’s tight budget, the council approved money for designing the club, but hasn’t
committed to construction.

Michael Bomar of TetraTech told the council that the design was 80 - 90 percent complete, and if the council approved, could be ready to apply for a development order in May, with construction finished next year. The cost would be $470,000 to $515,000.

“I didn’t realize we were going to take up all that space for tennis,” Councilor Sam Seevers said after Bomar presented the design. She said that a smaller facility would leave room for the dog park and skateboard park that the city had dropped from its project list last year.

“In my opinion, this is a poor decision to move forward with a capital facility,” Barker said, when the city doesn’t know how much Amendment One will affect property tax revenues.

Kisela suggested waiting to make a decision until the property appraiser presents his report in late June. Councilor Destin made a motion to do so, which passed unanimously.