The Santa Rosa Island Authority Board at their August 27 meeting changed course on the way of a strip of soundfront land behind three homes on Rio Vista will be maintained. In February, the Board voted to stop mowing and to allow the area to grow at will. In June, Escambia County Natural Resources Management Deputy Director Tim Day presented a report regarding the area’s wetlands, uplands and shoreline. The wetland vegetation is full of unhelpful invasive plants. He called it a “weedy mess,” and suggested two restoration methods to bring the wetlands back to a natural and environmentally correct state. Based on this new information, the item returned for discussion.
Board Attorney Mary Jane Bass assured the Board that revisiting the issue was legally permissible. Board member Bruce Childers said it was not. The Board voted 4-2 to revisit the item, and also 4-2 to rescind February’s action. Board Members Childers and Charles Thorton voted against revisiting the issue, citing a failure to follow Robert’s Rules of Order and against rescinding the prior vote. They were in favor of leaving the property alone.
At issue is public land zoned conservation-recreation that lies between 803-807 Rio Vista leaseholds and the water. According to Beach leaseholder Steve Luppert, who lives across the street, it has been illegally mowed and chemically treated by the adjacent leaseholders like it is an extension of their property. He says the County mowed it when it should have been left untouched. He added that it is being advertised by a rental offering a large backyard and a private beach. He further stated that the SRIA has failed to properly manage the entire Sharp’s Point area, from Baby Beach to Rio Vista.
Eight leaseholders spoke to the Board on both sides of the issue bringing up access, environmental, flooding, and proper use issues.
Gene Schmidt, leaseholder at 803 Rio Vista, noted that the weeds are now very high which prevents anyone from using the area. Residents who want to go to the water have to walk through the street and down to a public beach access and back track to use the soundfront beach behind their homes.
Kimberly Sullivan said the vegetation will protect the beach homes from flooding and the reason for the public access points is to keep people from treading on the plants. It is working as it is supposed to.
Board Member Elizabeth Timothy, who personally visited the area in February, said the wetlands assessment report, a better understanding of other area uses on the beach with the same zoning, and Tim Day’s recommendation brought to light so much new information that she reconsidered her stance on the topic. She felt a compromise to restore and protect wetlands while maintaining the upland areas so they could be used for passive recreation made sense.
Day told the Board that the wetlands restoration would likely cost between $50,000 to $60,000. It would involve removing all the vegetation and replanting it with native plants. That action would bring positive environmental impacts that currently do not exist.
After public comments and discussion, Board Member Dave Peaden’s motion, passed 4-2 with Childers and Thorton dissenting. It included the following: the SRIA staff work with Tim Day and Escambia County Natural Resources Department to rope off the wetlands area and that they seek funding to restore the area as prescribed by Day; after that restoration work is completed, the restoration should continue for all wetlands; the area that is not wetlands should be mowed as needed; thus the general public can use that area as needed.
Board Chairman Jeremy Johnson and Member Jerry Watson, who were in favor of mowing uplands and protecting the wetlands in February, were joined by Peaden and Timothy in the 4-2 approval of Peaden’s motion.
In other business, The Local received approval to use a small area of SRIA land to erect the iconic fish from a retired version of the Pensacola Beach fish sign. The patch of grassy area abuts their parking lot.
The Board accepted the Executive Director Mike Burns’ annual performance review completed by Board Chairman Jeremy Johnson. Johnson interviewed staff members who commented that they felt empowered to do their jobs by Burns and that office morale was high. Other Board members cited Burns’ ability to network and analyze complex issues and felt he was doing a good job.
In his Executive Director’s Report Burns presented statistics from the Bob Sikes Toll Facility, tourist development tax collections, the Blue Angels Air Show, and the Bands on the Beach schedule. He told the Board that he had met with multiple leaseholders about their issues; and former Senator Broxson regarding infrastructure projects.
Director of Environmental Services Juan Lemos in his report told the Board that the delayed installation of solar lighting at the crosswalks should begin before the end of August. The Beach renourishment start has been pushed back to mid-December. Lemos, who is retiring October 1, will begin working with his replacement, Mallory Jones. She will start September 2.
The financial report for June showed the SRIA lease fee collections lagged behind June of 2024. The amount of $752,828 was 10.7 percent less than the prior year. Overall, the collections are .2 percent behind for the year-to-date. Director Burns felt the overwhelmingly positive Air Show and strong August and September would likely bring better results.
In the Visitor’s Forum, resident Tom Jardine expressed his appreciation of District Four’s Escambia Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger for her advocacy of Pensacola Beach’s leaseholders during the Commission meetings. He said he was unhappy with Director Burns’ leadership and asked that he put the leaseholders as his number one priority. He challenged Burns, elected Board Member Jeremy Johnson and District Four appointee Elizabeth Timothy to give credit to the leaseholders for what they fund on the island. He used the air show and trolleys as examples where the leaseholders could be given some credit.
“We just heard about 250,000 people visiting the beach during the air show,” said Jardine. “How many went home knowing that the leaseholders funded about $300,000 of that air show? ”
The SRIA Committees will meet Wednesday, September 10 at 5 p.m. The meetings are open to the public for in-person attendance at #1 Via de Luna or remote attendance by dialing 1-301-715-8592. The meeting ID is 425 234 4682 and password is 2257.
Agendas and documents are posted at www.sria-fla.com.