Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day in Pensacola. It was especially nice at the beach--where I spent my afternoon.
I started out in Perdido Key at the Crab Trap Restaurant where I parked, went inside, made a purchase, then walked out to the beach. There is a very nice stretch of beach out behind the Crab Trap that was being enjoyed by dozens of patrons.
Just to the East of this spot, the Escambia BCC owns 300 feet of beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico. This stretch of beach was also being enjoyed by dozens of folks as well!
Although the parcel of land has a prominently placed "No Trespassing" sign on the front, and despite the fact that the gate is chained shut--a steady flow of residents from the condominium on the North side of Perdido Key Drive walked on a wooden "walkover" that is reserved for their exclusive use only and proceeded to utilize the county's portion of the beach. Right now, however, the general public taxpayers that paid for this beach cannot access it. How can this be allowed to continue?This smacks of unfairness.
Right now there are Condominium complexes adjacent to our existing three beach access points that have placed "no trespassing signs" all the way down their property lines to the beach. Access #'s parking lot was lined with cars toting out of state license plates (nearby condo's with limited parking spaces send their guests to our public lot, I'm told). At acess #1, the condos on the right and left actually had two uniformed sheriff's deputies monitoring the boundary to ensure the general public did not "trespass" and attempt to use "their beach."
Access points #2 and #3 were jamm-packed full of cars--no spaces available.
It was depressing to see, and given a lot of what is going on around the country and the state concerning beach access--it should be setting off alarm bells for all of us in the County.
We need to #OpenOurBeach We need to
provide more beach access for our citizens--especially given the fact that we currently own a 4 acre site with 300 feet on the beach that the average Escambia County citizen cannot access. This is wrong, this will change and it is going to change soon.
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