Parking situation at Destin Jetties (Discussion)

[mike_s]

Destin Jetty Divers:

So... we all had lots of fun diving at the Destin Jetties here lately, however, the biggest challenge there isn't the diving but the parking. And it seems to be getting worse. Bad enough that recently someone keyed someone elses car becuase they "thought" their space was taken.

So I wrote the below letter to the Destin City Council and Mayor asking to change the parking situation there. If they changed the parallel parking to diaganol parking then it would add several extra parking spaces.

If you think it would be helpful and want to send them your own letter, the email addresses are below. Feel free to use any part of my letter or write your own. I think if they get several inquiries about it that it might at least make them consider looking into it. Please remember to be professional/polite in your correspondance.

Feel free to post any discussion about this here.

Note to Mods: This is about parking area for trips planned for North Florida Divers. Please do not move this thread.

Thanks.

-Mike

To: -- council@cityofdestin.com, mayor@cityofdestin.com
Subject: Parking issues at Destin west jetties on Gulf Shore Drive

Destin Mayor and City Council persons,

I wanted to address with you issues with parking on Gulf Shore Drive near the beach entrance to the west jetties. This is the parallel parking area that is at the far end of Gulf Shore Drive after the start of the jetty beach access.

Currently this area is extensively used by fishermen, beach goers and scuba enthusiasts. Many of these people are “locals” and many are vacationers, which are a large part of the economic heart of Destin. However, parking in this area is getting more and more difficult, especially on weekends when the weather is nice. It’s almost impossible to find a parking spot in this location or at the “overflow” area at the end of the street.

For scuba divers the Destin Jetties is the only “shore dive” location in the City of Destin. Divers are drawn to the jetties for its location and excellent diving. Fishermen are drawn for the same reasons and this is one of the few ocean fishing locations with underwater structure to fish from the shore within the City of Destin. Unfortunately the City of Destin does not have large parking areas to accommodate everyone at their jetties like cities competing for tourist dollars do such as Panama City Beach and the St. Andrews State Park jetties.

I’m sure there is no report to measure the economic impact of the area at the jetties, but I’m sure it’s in the thousands of dollars per month in economic impact revenue to the city by way of fishing gear/tackle/bait sold, beach chair rentals on the site, and scuba equipment rental/sales and air fills sold. Not to mention indirect tax revenue from vacationers lodging tax, food bills, gas, etc.

To help with this situation, I would like to suggest a change in the parking structure here that will add to the number of parking places at little or no cost to the City of Destin.

Change the “parallel parking” spots in this location to “diagonal parking” spots. This should add a number of new parking spots.

This would simply require moving back the curb blockers several feet by the city works department and some painting of diagonal lines. An example of where else the city has done this is in front of the beach access at Pompano Joes. Since the parking lot was destroyed by the storm, the city has moved the curbs back some and “spray painted” some temporary lines on the gravel creating diagonal parking in place of the parallel parking on the main street, increasing the number of useable parking spaces.

I hope this is a helpful suggestion that the city leaders will consider. I think it will benefit the city, residents, and vacationers.

I look forward to hearing back from you in regards to this issue. Thank you for your help and support.

Sincerely,

 

[kchFLA]

Having worked for local government in the past - not sure how effective your letter is going to be. Beach access is definitely a concern for local government. Unfortunately the local governments didn't realize the great asset and the need to protect that asset. As such there isn't much the governments can do without the land.

In addition road design as a lot to do with how cars are parked along side. There could be an engineering reason for parallel instead of diagonal.

Oh and Pompano Joes is in Walton County.

 

[mike_s]

Oh and Pompano Joes is in Walton County.

that's right.. it is... (the county line is right there near Capt Daves.). From looking at the official city map, that seems to be the case.
It appears that Destin Commons and Silver Sands (outlet mall) are not in the city. I'm suprised by that from a revenue point of view. (sales tax).

can they not have cities that cross the county lines? Several cities here where I live cross county lines. (just curious)

 

[Knight1989]

I deffinitly agree the parking situation out there is really bad. Something deffinitly needs to be done. I've thought about the diagonal parking myself for some time. something needs to be done. Possably the parking lot at the end of the road could be expanded as well. But parking is getting worse and quick.

 

[SeaYoda]

They want to build another condo at the end of the road. The condo people have asked for a height variance and are willing to give some parking for it. That won't help us on the jetty end of the street. With more people staying down there it should get more crowded on the beach too.

The persons who own property on Holiday Island are very exclusive. I think they barely tolerate the public access - note how well it is disguised . I would guess that they'd rather that I not park my scubabomb near their houses at all. If I remember correctly, I think that it was difficult for the parking that exists to be "upgraded" to what it is.

No harm in asking for improvements, eh?

 

[mike_s]

I called public works and talked to one of their manager types there. He said that Holiday Isle "owner association" pretty much controls that area and what goes on. It was there before the city incorporated.

They pay for all the maintenance, yard cutting of public areas etc in that area. They even have their own office to manage it. He thinks that any changes will not be likely and that don't expect a "yes" answer from the mayor/city council quickly....

All the reason that we should all write the city council /mayor. The more voices heard, the more difference it could make.

 

[Knight1989]

If thats controlled by any type of owners association, chances of anything being done are slim to none. We can still try, but deffinitly an uphill battle. Maybe we should all just pool together and buy one of the houses out there.

 

[mike_s]

we could just buy one of those empty lots and let PHD put his camper on it? I'm betting he'd be game for that, except for the ocassional "hurricane"

 

[kchFLA]

:scatter: Actually that would be the best idea - just drive the "house" out of harms way.

 

[Knight1989]

I'm sure if we all pooled our entire savings together we should be able to afford about 5 sqft out there.