Destin approves 47-slip marina

It's one thing to allow Destin residents speak to the City Council about waterfront development, but it's a much better thing to encourage them to do so.

Monday night, Destin City Council approved Legendary Inc.'s plan for a 47-slip marina - 20 for jet-skis, 27 for charter, rental and public boats - at the west end of the Destin harbor. After former City Councilor Larry Williges asked why the city hadn't scheduled a public hearing on the marina, the council also voted unanimously to have its staff draw up a rules change to require a public hearing before the council voted on future large marinas.

Councilor Sam Seevers said she couldn't recall Mayor Craig Barker ever turning away public comment, but Barker said putting a hearing on the agenda might encourage people with objections to a project to come forward.

"It encourages people to come and speak their piece, that's the intent," Councilor Dewey Destin said. He made the motion for the rules change, suggesting 10 slips as the cut-off point, but adding he'd leave that to the staff's judgment.

Williges was the only person to address the council about the Legendary project. He said the city had rejected a dry-dock facility in the same area of the harbor because of concerns about congestion. Councilor Kelly Windes said that project had involved several hundred boats.

A city report said the Harbor Board had originally worried the marina would congest the harbor, but Legendary had met the board's concerns about congestion by shortening the jet-ski docks and moving them away from the harbor mouth.

The board approved the project on the condition that the city deal first with the shoaling at the end of Norriego Point, which narrowed the waterway out of the harbor. The council's approval didn't include that requirement.

The council also voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting Amendment 6 to the Florida constitution. The amendment would allow "working waterfronts" - marinas and docks open to the public, commercial fishing facilities, public vessel launches - to pay property taxes based on their current use, rather than "highest and best use." The latter standard can mean higher taxes if the "best use" is turning the land into a luxury waterfront condominium.