Latest / Rick Outzen: (we don’t) color on the dog / Fighting for the Sand
Transcript
- Rick Outzen: I'm Rick Altson. This is Rick's Blog Live. Thank you for watching. This is a labor of love. I think great to work with Blab and their team to bring you the stories we were covering in the blog and in the newspaper so that you can really get to meet the newsmakers. One big newsmaker I've got with me right now, Melissa Pino. Melissa, thank you for joining me. Melissa Pino: Thank you for having me, Rick. Rick Outzen: You know, we actually became really got to know each other during COVID more. Two hour drives back to Gulf Breeze. We talked all the way back on what some of the issues were. You've been very active in the community. The big issue now that that is definitely on the southwest part of the county is customary use, public use of the beaches at Perdido. Talk about why you got involved in this issue. Melissa Pino: Well, and thank you for having me. What a nice what a nice way to spend the the day after, Rick. And I appreciate you devoting some time to this because we've only got a little bit left to get to the testimonial. So hopefully with the primary and the rear view we can get a few more of those. But I'm actually wearing an old vintage t shirt. This is a throwback. It's an eight-year-old t shirt. This was the first one we had printed up, when we got a loose coalition of beach advocates together to start trying to get that That beach pride back open out on Perdito Key. And so the first thing that we got accomplished was well, we blocked an attempt to close access one and then we pushed to get beach access that had already been purchased by the public down near the crab trap. It was sitting there waiting. You would have thought that would have been easy, but it wasn't. We finally did get that open and cut the ribbon. And then a member of our team, Michael McCormick, discovered language in the deeds in front of the Gulf Beach subdivision that had somehow fallen out of much of the chain of title. And we all realized, whoa, this was supposed to be perpetual access for the public from the conveyance from the federal government. And so little by little we've been recovering and restoring what has always been public access. On the key until the unfortunate two thousand Rick Outzen: I think people will be surprised if they don't go if you haven't been to Perdido Key r you know over the last few years, I think you'll be surprised at how different it is than Pensacola Beach. In Pensacola Beach you can walk the beach from Perd from Fort Pickens past Portofino to Navarre and not have any problems. But it Perdido s some you know, condos have st stretched out chains or Do not trespass signs behind the beach behind their buildings, and it just a it's a whole different another feel of Perdito versus what we have on Pensacola Beach. Melissa Pino: Truly, and it's such a shame. And the irony is it's really only three week three excuse me, three months out of the year during the high sea sh season that there's such contention down there. But while it's going on, it's it it's really unfortunate, it's very bad. The climate is very hostile and toxic to day visitors, families who come, people who come to have access to the beach, and then they realize that, we didn't rent in a gulf front facing condo. We're in one across the street. Or we're in the Grand Caribbean, or at Beach Access Three, for instance, we're across the street on one of these newer condo developments that are on River Road, and they're finding they don't have access. And it has only been eight years since that started to happen. But we do, particularly at Beach Access One, is very contentious, and they have crime scene tape and constant deputies their uniform, badge, guns, and they are paid they're off duty to enforce trespassing laws and it's debatable. W th the the legality of it is debatable, but I think the sheriff's office for the most part handles it very professionally, but not not the office itself but the duty the the deputies that are off duty but it is still a very dicey and sad situation. When you'll be at the beach and you will see a deputy come tell families to take their blanket up off the dry sand and get down to the wet sand area. Rick Outzen: Yeah, it it's customary use is I guess the simplest way to say it is what has been the customary use of the beach at on Perdito Key, the beach is there. there is a process going on for the county commission to show that it has been public and it requires affidavits, testimony. y'all had a big meeting at Hub Stacey's on the key. last Friday the fourteenth, had a really good turnout. talk about the affidavits or the testimony. What's what are y'all looking for to help prove that the beach has a history of being used by the public? Melissa Pino: I think that what's so cool about the the the testimonial process, and you're right, that what's that root word in customary use? It's custom and you can really think about it more as historical. and that's all the commission has to do is declare that there has indeed been historical public access out there, and they have to set that by ordinance and define the geographical parameters. And so what is so amazing is that Your memories in this case become a legal instrument towards recovering the public access there. And what staff really needs is just some very basic information, tell your stories, and if you could, if you will, just peg down about when did you go? where did you go? and we don't need lad latitude-longitude. Well, we and we used to hang out near the old reef for the cutty sark. Or our favorite spot was to the west, just to the west of where the state park area is now. For some of the old timers that are filling out affidavits going back to the 40s and even earlier, they used to head down to the reef or the Cuddy Sark area there, around Beach Access 1. They'd get on their dune buggies and go all the way to what used to be the end of Florida there on on the quay and because there was no road. There was no road there. And so we have an information sheet that provides the very short list of things that are helpful, but your memories and i if you want to include them, photographs as well. Th they're not required, but if you really want to share them, so it's a wonderful way to to convey the sense of this wonderful public amenity that has always been that way until a short eight years ago when the condo owners started driving towards privatization. Rick Outzen: So the there's a deadline that that we've Melissa Pino: Twenty-eighth. Twenty eighth. Twenty eighth of August. They have to be into the county at the twenty-eighth of August. Yes, and people, there are really two ways to go about it. The county has a portal for people that are they like to use technology and are comfortable with it. So if you just Google Ascambia Perdido Beach, you will, you know, ask for a portal if you have to use that search term, it will take you to that page. It will give you instructions and then it has the fields for entering a little bit of information about yourself, what's your name, where do you live? And something that's very important is that you don't have to currently live in Escambia County. You don't have to have ever lived in Escambia County. If you live in Timbuktu and you spent a glorious wide open week on that beach in May of 1999, that is that is still a valid testimonial. So you can go to the county's website or we found that a lot of people weren't comfortable with that. So instead we made a short page of instructions for people to either handwrite or to type and then get them notarized. You can pick those forms up at P Perdito Pack and Ship, which is down on Sorrento across from ol the the Walmart there on the corner of Dog Track. Or you can email us. Okay. Rick Outzen: Yeah, we'll we'll add it to this. Melissa Pino: The first part is easy. It's open Perdito Key Beach. Okay. Open Perdito Key Beach. Gets a little tricky from there because it's at ProtonEmail dot com. P-R-O-T-O-N Proton Email dot com. And everyone is like, why did you do that? And we say, 'cause it's free. And we're just we're just an ad hoc group of of people trying to help with this. Rick Outzen: You'll you can see that on the screen. We'll be able to get it to to help. It is I I think this is to me it's a no brainer as far as the beaches should always be open. the I can understand if if there's a a pool r next to the condo and wanting to protect the property itself, but it it's always been an issue. It's been an issue in Gulf Breeze with peers, it's been an issue in a lot of different who owns the shoreline. And I think the shoreline is everybody's. but that could be a unique unique feel to it. so you've got a deadline, it's August twenty eighth. You know, you're looking at an opportunity to to be a part of the process. And what happens after this? What happens after all the the testimony is sent in? What happens next? Melissa Pino: staff has a built-in review period of ninety days. so that they can review everything that's being submitted and then we're into the Christmas season and don't really expect that you know there's gonna be anything of this really important legislative sort of thing going into Christmas. So we're expecting that January or February of next year, twenty twenty seven, that it will come onto the agenda and the commission will be able to vote really with a sense of confirmation That what we've been saying all along is that the public will show up. of course the concern has always been that if they pass this, the goldfront condo owners might bring a lawsuit, which is unfortunate. But if they do and if it gets anywhere, it might not even get anywhere because they'll all have to be on the same suit and they'll all have to hang together. But If it does go to court, you need people to testify that it's been public and this has happened other places like the town of Reddington. Rick Outzen: There are other stories of this. We're coming up on the hard break, but this isn't a unique just to Perdito. It's happened. It's been an issue in Walton County for quite some time, but in other cities and other beaches are having the same issue. the this is I thank you for coming on the show. Thank you. You know, I think that that the people that are behind this that really care about the beach. There is no other agenda than the beach here. and it's You know, the commissioners need this. I mean, gosh, when we look at the county commission, we're coming right up on the break, but the county commission for the most part, for the majority, have been in favor of customary use. They need this evidence for them to go ahead and and validate it with an ordinance. We're gonna go ahead and break. Melissa, again, thank you for coming on. I appreciate it. we will we'll be back after we pay a few bills. I'm Rick Alfman and this is Rick Wagli.