COLUMN: Stop kicking sand at the facts and renourish the beach

This column was published in our sister paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News.

The Daily News’ Nov. 12 editorial, “Ida’s beach dilemma: No easy fix,” cannot go unchallenged.

You say: “In a perfect world, most of these problems could be solved if owners of private beaches would stop relying on a government program, shoulder the responsibility, buy their own sand and rebuild their own shorelines as they please. … Clean and simple.”

Sorry to disagree, but the general public is not paying. Clean and simple.

A host of negative letters and blogs have been written against those beach owners in Destin who desperately need beach renourishment. As the general manager of Jetty East, I would like to try to set the record straight.

First of all, Jetty East and other condominiums on Holiday Isle were built back in the mid-1970s when there was no City of Destin and there was no coastal control line. We built about 500 feet back from the water line. The establishment of the jetties and the lengthening of the jetties by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers disrupted the normal flow of water along the coast, and since then we haven’t had the type of beach sand accretion one would normally expect. Add to that the numerous storms we’ve had, and bingo! No beach, no berm, no natural renourishment.

Back when Jetty East was built, there were very few lodging facilities in this area. We were among the first to offer a place to stay while visitors came to enjoy the beaches, eat at local restaurants, go deep sea fishing and shop. At the same time, our rental unit owners went out to local stores and purchased furniture, flooring, appliances, etc., to set up their units for guests.

Many people don’t understand that the beach owners will pay for the Destin beach renourishment via a municipal services benefit unit, or MSBU. They will pay $3 million over eight years. Money has already been charged these owners for the past two years in their annual tax bills from the tax assessor’s office. The rest of the money will come from the extra 1-cent bed tax the condos on Holiday Isle and down the beach have been collecting from tourists and forwarding to the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council. Nobody expects or wants the citizens of this county to pay for the beach renourishment.

In 2007, Jetty East paid $316,347 in state sales taxes, $210,898 in “bed taxes” and just under $1 million in ad valorem taxes on their units. Multiply this times Destin Pointe rentals, The Islander condominium, Inlet Reef Club, Holiday Surf & Racquet Club, The Aegean and others on Gulf Shore Drive in Destin and you end up with huge numbers. Then take the nights rented and multiply by a conservative $75 per day spent in this area by tourists.

For Jetty East, that comes to about $2 million. Multiply that number by all the rental condos. Then figure how many businesses profit from tourists coming to our beaches and the money spent by individual rental condo owners in restaurants, furniture and appliance stores, clothing stores, attractions such as Big Kahuna’s, shopping centers such as Destin Commons, deep sea fishing trips, gasoline, etc.

Just about any business you can name is somehow connected to the tourism industry in Destin, one that was started by Jetty East.

We at Jetty East have never been the type of folks who keep our neighbors off the beach. People from across Gulf Shore Drive come over and set up their own umbrellas and we never say anything to them except “Hi.” We encourage beach walkers to walk in front of Jetty East to reach the jetties. Since the beach has been eroded, we have encouraged walkers to come onto our property via our stairs, walk along our property, go down the stairs closest to the jetties and return the same way.

This entire area needs to have good, clean, wide beaches to attract tourists who come to enjoy the beach while frequenting the businesses and attractions nearby.

So, clean and simple it is: We must have beach renourishment and we must have it now. It will benefit everyone.

Jerry Stalnaker is general manager and broker for the Jetty East Condominium in Destin (three years). Previously he was general manager for Holiday Surf & Racquet Club (11 years), The Breakers in Fort Walton Beach (one year) and the Enclave (one year). Before that, he spent 30 years as an Air Force maintenance officer, navigator, commander and fighter pilot.