Beach titles could spur development ‘like in the rest of the state’

Beach titles could spur development ‘like in the rest of the state’

SantaRosaChronicle.com
May 4, 2008

Despite opposition from some officials and residents…and the Chairman of the agency designated with administering beach land in the public interest, Escambia and Santa Rosa officials are moving forward with efforts to gain beach land title authority from the Federal government.

The Federal government conveyed the two-county portion of Santa Rosa Island to Escambia County in 1946.

Escambia subleased Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County in 1956. Beach residents, in turn, lease the land on which their homes stand from Escambia or Santa Rosa County; often for 99-year terms.

The Federal agreement requires beach land be used in the public interest, and does not allow beach property titles to be sold.

But Escambia and Santa Rosa commissioners voted, April 29, to move forward with efforts to acquire authority to sell title ownership. The process requires Federal legislative action.

“There’s nothing better than fee simple ownership of land,” said Commissioner John Broxson. “It just really means you own the land and that’s the golden standard of property ownership.”

The ‘uncertain status’ of the lease-based arrangement is interfering with development, according to some local officials.

“The primary issue is economic development,” Escambia Commissioner Mike Whitehead said. “[The current system] forecloses a number of corporations from investing in these beachfront and communities like they have in the rest of the state.”

Whitehead also contends lease agreements are placing leaseholders in an ‘uncertain status,’ and that title transfer would improve local government control over beach property.

“Local control is the right way to go,” Santa Rosa Commissioner Don Salter agreed.

Some officials and residents disagree.

Escambia Commissioner Grover Robinson opposes the measure. He noted that leases have not hindered development on Pensacola Beach.

“I think we’ve seen development occur,” he pointed out. “At this point I think we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.”

“You have a contract and all of a sudden we want to void the contract on one side to gain control,” added Dr. Thomas Campanella, Santa Rosa Island Authority Chair. The SRIA oversees beach leases and services administration.

Campanella said he fears the change will lead to increased beach development density, through local lifting of established building caps. Escambia commissioners recently tried to lift Perdido Key building caps, but Florida’s Department of Community Affairs rejected the measure.

The beach should remain a public asset with public access, says Campanella.

“That’s a beautiful natural resource,” he remarked. “Beaches add to the community.”

Currently, beaches are publicly owned and operated, Campanella pointed out.

“All of a sudden we’re going to take away public and we’re going to give it to private…on the outside it sounds great. On the inside it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Pensacola Beach resident James Cox also opposes title transfer efforts.

“Everything’s being talked about as if it were trying to do a favor for people on the beach,” he noted.

“[We] don’t want fee simple. We want the county to honor existing contracts. It’s presumptive for the County Commission to say ‘let’s give these poor people the fee simple they’re not asking for.’”

“I think there are too many questions out there,” Robinson added. “We’re just not there yet in Escambia County.”

Robinson and Escambia Commissioner Kevin White voted against efforts to transfer title ownership to counties. The remainder of the Escambia Board of Commissioners, and the entire Santa Rosa Board of Commissioners voted in favor.

The resolution is the first step towards title transfer. It directs county staff to draft language for future approval and forward to State Representative Jeff Miller, who is expected to sponsor the legislation. Officials say there’s much work to be done before becoming permanent.

“I imagine it would be a multi-year process before it ever reaches finality,” County Attorney Tom Dannheisser noted.

A new proposal to dig a Navarre Beach pass between Santa Rosa Sound and the Gulf of Mexico could also present obstacles, Commission Gordon Goodin noted.

Escambia County must approve any such structure on the Santa Rosa side of the Island, according to state law.

“At some point I think that issue’s going to have to be addressed if we want to have success,” Goodin remarked.

It’s not yet clear whether leaseholders would be given title, or would have to buy it.

At last week’s meeting, officials pointed out that some leaseholders may choose not to take title if it becomes available, because individual leaseholders may not want to pay administrative transfer fees.

If leaseholders don’t choose to take title, could new owners buy it out from under them?

Possibly, says Dannheisser. In that situation, original lease agreements would still take precedence over title, he said.