Perdido Key Public Beach Access #4 Design and Application Going to Development Review This Week

The long and tortured saga of the effort to open a 330' county-owned parcel of  Gulf-Front property on Perdido Key will soon enter a new chapter;  final plans for this property will be submitted for the  County's Development Review  this week.

Nearby residents, condo owners in the area, and some Perdido Key special interests have fought against opening this parcel for various reasons.  And the primary reason is that the status quo of keeping this parcel locked to citizens that don't live nearby allows for the exclusive use of this property by locals that live in the area---while simultaneously keeping the taxpayers who PAID for this property in 2013 from accessing it!!

You can read all about the gnashing of teeth by the special interests that oppose this, and the comfortable status quo these special interests and nearby residents have enjoyed by using our publicly owned beach as their private beach for the last 6 years, here and here.

Beginning last year, however,  the BCC  moved forward with doing the planning  for opening up this beach  access facility for use by all of Escambia County's citizens.  This should have happened years ago;  Better late than never I guess........And yes, you guessed it, there is litigation in the courts from the special interests aimed at derailing the initiative to #OpenOurBeach.  Imagine that?  😏

Once complete and opened, however, this access will be larger than our current three access points, combined!

It will feature ADA accessible mats that allow citizens in wheelchairs to access the beach, it will have 37 parking spaces, it will provide desperately needed west Perdido Key emergency access to the gulf for lifeguards and first responders, and it will have built-in protections for sensitive habitat in the dunes portion and most sandy portions of the parcel.  (Something that up until now has not been provided for)

We now have the  final design drawings relevant portions of which are pictured below:

Highlights and required steps going forward:

• DRC approval--application to be submitted this week.
• Approval of the Management Plan by USFWS, final plan set is required as a part of the Service review process (concurrent with DRC process)
• Engineer’s Probable Cost to Construct – the consultant is developing the estimate now
• Funding source approved by the BCC
• Bid and Construct