Illustration: Walton County
“Walton County commissioners have taken a first look at a set of proposals that could reshape the economic potential of the U.S. Highway 331 corridor…
The proposed development standards — more specifically, the establishment of scenic overlay districts — would apply restrictive development standards extending to 400 feet from the affected sections of the two routes…
But as a result of recent action by the Walton County Planning Commission, new-vehicle sales lots — originally proposed as an excluded use — would be allowed along the scenic corridors, if that provision survives further review and action by the County Commission…
One of those sections extends from Choctawhatchee Bay north and west to the edges of the city of Freeport, and also incorporates acreage roughly bisected by SR 20.
A second section, bounded by the south side of Interstate 10, extends north and west from the southern edge of DeFuniak Springs.
…Adoption of the amendments would mean that neither the Planning Commission nor the County Commission would get to review any project that met existing county requirements for job creation or economic development…
Leigh Moore, executive director of Scenic Walton… cautioned commissioners to take a longer-term view of the proposed scenic corridor requirements.
‘I understand the concern about economic development, and I also encourage that to be a major focus,’ Moore said, ‘but please keep in mind … that if you don’t have some good aesthetic and (traffic) access management guidelines, then in the medium- and longer-term it ends up hurting economic development …’
Moore said Scenic Walton is not against growth along the U.S. 331 corridor.
‘But we want to do it in the right way, and that requires some local government control and regulation over what can and can’t happen in that corridor,’ she said…”
— Jim Thompson, Northwest Florida Daily News
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