I suppose, in the interest of full disclosure, I should state that my wife and I have been residents of the Navarre/Santa Rosa area since last August. While nine months of living here hardly makes me an expert on the area, in our previous community I served seven years as Mayor. The experience was both rewarding and educational.
Emily Cannington needed a moment to catch her breath, a moment to let the adrenaline of Navarre’s heart-stopping 2-1 win in softball over previously unbeaten West Florida Tech simmer down slightly.
Next week is Spring Break for Santa Rosa students and the weather is going to be interesting. The highs are in the 60s and the lows in the 50s. Yes – I’ve become a weather forecaster. Apparently, many of you are too. Some of our highest engagement numbers include weather and scenery – right after heinous criminal acts and new restaurants. When my husband and I were looking at potential homes in Navarre in March 1993, we had snow flurries. So cooler weather in March is not surprising.
Jamie Gentry’s article last week, “Duplex Rezoning Request Denied” couldn’t have been further from the truth! This action was never about “affordable housing.” As Brett Ramsey told the BOCC, “this development will raise $4.0 to $4.5 million in property values for the county.” As I pointed out in my remarks to the BOCC, “…if you do the math, for 22 duplexes (proposed at simple fee purchase) that equates to about $200,000 per individual duplex. Not exactly what I would call ‘affordable…’”. Couple that with about 44-55 vehicles on a 600’ long road (300’ west of Panhandle Trail), across 11 duplex units with shared driveways, you’re looking at a massive parking problem; especially since most of those duplex owners will, most assuredly, enclose their one-car garages to get more interior living space.
In a fiscal year of high numbers for bed-tax collections, January saw a 41 percent increase in these fees paid by overnight visitors to Santa Rosa County.
County commissioners plan to ask voters to raise the local option sales tax (LOST) in an August special election. This would extend and expand an existing half-cent LOST approved by voters in 2016.
An amendment to the collection agreement between Santa Rosa County and Airbnb and the cleanup of an abandoned truck stop on Highway 87 were among the topics discussed by county commissioners Monday.
