Neighbors push back against Draper Lake proposed project in South Walton

SANTA ROSA BEACH — America’s largest home builder had no friends Wednesday at a meeting of the Walton County Technical Review Committee.

Residents from across the county, and in particular those who live in the vicinity of the coastal dune lake known as Draper Lake, lined up to oppose D.R. Horton’s request to build a 138-unit triplex rental property on Scenic Highway 30-A.

Emotions have been high since the project was proposed. The 35 acres being considered for development are the last along Scenic Highway 30A that remain relatively untouched. Those who live in the vicinity say deer are abundant on the property and it is also home to bear and bald eagles.

South Walton County’s 15 coastal dune lakes are unique in that the fresh water lakes co-mingle regularly with the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. County officials have taken steps over the years to protect the lakes from development.

While most attending Wednesday via Zoom said they disapproved of the size and scope of the project, many spoke out against the building company itself and its reputation for breaking the rules.

“D.R. Horton has a track record of environmental abuse and shoddy workmanship,” resident Matthew Kaufler told the board. “D.R. Horton doesn’t want to play by the rules.”

David Smith, a representative of Innerlight Engineering Corporation, was seeking an OK from the Technical Review Committee to take D.R. Horton’s development proposal to the Walton County Planning Commission.

Committee Chairman Mac Carpenter, however, called for a two-week delay so that he could review a recently provided traffic plan for the development. The proposal will be back in front of the TRC Aug. 19.

As part of the agenda packet prepared for the meeting, a list had been prepared of D.R. Horton’s safety-related and environmental-related offenses committed since 2000. The list contained 35 items and showed D.R. Horton had paid fines totaling $885,707.

Prior to the meeting the county’s Coastal Dune Lake Advisory Board had written a letter, also contained within the agenda packet, requesting the project, a planned unit development, be rejected based on D.R. Horton’s track record.

“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the US Environmental Protection Agency has an extensive report on non-point source discharges in Florida caused by the applicant for the Draper Lake PUD, Dr. Horton Inc.,” the letter, signed by Advisory Board Chairman Michael Messerly, said. “In Walton County alone there have been 12 documented complaints of violations over the past five years.”

“The coastal dune lakes are rare and imperiled ecosystem found only in a few locations in the world,” Messerly wrote. “Should the proposed project get approved the watershed and ecosystems of Draper Lake have a risk of being impaired.”

A spokesperson for D.R. Horton did not respond to a request for comment.

As proposed, the Draper Lake PUD would be built on the northernmost 10 acres of a 35-acre lot.

The development, which could house up to 1,000 people, would be accessed from 30A. Draper Lake, labeled by some the county’s most pristine coastal dune lake, is on the far side of the property and would be protected from access, development planners say.

Opponents of the project were skeptical that short-term renters would pay much attention to efforts to keep them from finding their way to the lake shore, particularly in light of the fact the development itself is to be marketed using the Draper Lake name.

“What do you think drunk spring breakers will do to access Draper Lake?” one woman asked. “One thousand people will be checking in every Saturday and getting access to Draper Lake.”