Welcome to a world of wonderful living…Pensacola Beach. In today’s article I will be featuring quotes and promotions from one of the first advertising pieces encouraging residents to move onto the island full-time. The pamphlet also explains that if you want to build a home, how you can arrange for telephone service, garbage collection, water, etc. Basically it was promotional material to attract homeowners and businesses to the beach. It laid out the role of the Santa Rosa Island Authority and plainly stated how the beach was to be organized. There are many references in the promotional booklet describing how they wanted the island to grow “ …steps were taken by the authority to make Pensacola Beach available to both the visitor and also the person who wished to live permanently on the beach.” Also, under dual functions on the beach it is quoted as stating “the beach is the number one recreation area for the county’s residents …and as a second role… “Pensacola Beach functions both as a tourist resort and a residential area for year-round dwellers.” Here is one of my favorite quotes. “The beach development has been charted on a land used study to provide commercial interests for the tourist season; recreation for Escambia County residents, and areas for the year-round homeowner of the island. A lot of room is also dedicated in this pamphlet to explain how property owners may obtain bridge passes, get services like electric, electricity, trash, water, sewage, phone, fire protection, etc., where your children may go to school and how there was a cooperative agreement with Santa Rosa County. Believe it or not, dogs used to be subjected to “..lease property of said owner only. Violators are subject to arrest and punishment as provided by law.” Although dated, the pamphlet is quite enjoyable as it talks about where you may find churches, social clubs, libraries, alcoholic beverages, and what type of fishing you may enjoy. It also warns that your gardens may not be the loveliest because sand is difficult to cultivate. I applaud the foresight to preserve our beaches to be 100% publicly accessible for our visitors and we think that is part of what makes our beaches so special, and we love it!

There is no copyright date. Some investigation has placed it at publication around 1970 as it has no reference to our elected SRIA board position. Also referenced is the homeowners association for Beach residents which was then referred to as The Pensacola Beach Homeowners association and the Villa Sabine Homeowners Association.

Now this is where we come in. Make no bones about it, Pensacola Beach Advocates is a leaseholder organization which promotes residential rights, goals, and objectives. We also have many business owners in our membership because our goals align: we all want to maintain and keep a beautiful beach, keep the traffic flowing, and keep the area safe for everyone and welcoming for the tourists.

This pamphlet says SRIA is in charge. “Pensacola Beach although owned by Escambia County, is under the governmental supervision of the Santa Rosa Island Authority, which was created in 1947 by an act of the Florida legislature.” My question is when did they vacate all of the authorities and abilities that were handed to them in the 1947 statutes that created them?

Now their mission statement reads: “To preserve our natural resources, manage growth and promote eco-friendly tourism in a clean, safe community environment.” Well, ok. Let’s check out the budget to see how they do that. And where did the “promotion of a residential community go? I see floodplain management and I guess you certainly could say that they are definitely providing fun for Escambia County residents and tourists, but how are they taking care of the full time beach residents? By taxing us when they said they would not? We have more short-term rentals than residents in a low density residential neighborhood, and we have no short-term rental regulations. We have no consistent policies when it comes to maintaining our lands sound side, nor direction to the county who manages Public Works when it comes to maintaining our crossovers, streets, or maintenance of bike paths. Although the county manager is Public works, it would seem that the authority that manages the Beach would communicate needs and set priorities. What about management of traffic when the entire county seems to be on the beach every beautiful weekend? It has been stated that parking at the beach is such a problem, then why are so many parking spots in the core blocked off for construction equipment? That affects both locals and visitors and in my opinion is poor planning. Who is doing the day to day management of issues that pop up with Code Enforcement…or quality of life issues from out of control short term rentals? Who is managing the construction of homes that replace original structures, and are considered boutique hotels by anyone else’s zoning code, and being built in a low density residential neighborhood? Not very attractive to the year round full time resident that was part of the county’s long term plan for growth on the beach. From the very beginning residents - full time, year-round residents, or renters of homes was one of the major goals for development on this beach. The residents have been forgotten.

Part of our job at Pensacola Beach Advocates is to keep the residents relevant. We know that SRIA has spearheaded our renourishment, and we are thankful for that. It’s the day to day items that seem to get left in the “inbox.” The county wanted year-round residents on the beach and we were never supposed to be taxed… but then we were. The county invited and planned for a full-time residential community on this beach, but won’t implement short-term rental regulations to keep a quality of life that is attractive to the full-time resident. It seems that today it is all about the golden tax dollar and who cares about the residents who live in the county’s playground? We care. We care that no one is enforcing the code for turtle lighting. We care that an ambulance or a fire truck cannot get down Ariola because of illegal parking. We care when our streets flood regularly. We care that traffic backs up, but no one knows how far and we lose 20 seconds per light cycle due to illegal pedestrian crossings… Who is taking care of that? Why can’t beach residents get Nixle alerts like Gulf Breeze when traffic backs up to Peg Leg’s or The Beach Church? We pay property tax and want a nice quality of life that goes with it like all of the other low density neighborhoods in the county. This is why we are here fighting for title to our property and every other right that other residents in Escambia county have. We should not have to pay extra for services that everyone else gets for free. When they wanted to develop the beach, full-time residents were welcome and a part of the plan.

We are hoping all of that changes on April 22nd. A new appointee by District 4 County Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger is taking a seat on the board on that date: Marc Marrocco. He lives right in the middle of it all, in a low density residential neighborhood on Pensacola Beach. He is raising his family on the beach. He surfs, he talks to the other parents at the elementary school, he has a vision to return the beach and the residential community back into a quality lifestyle residential community like the one promoted back in the 70’s. In fact, in November, he volunteered and joined the PBA board because of his vision and because of our goals. He has resigned to take his spot on the SRIA board and we applaud his appointment. We also need your help. Please join PBA today and keep the wonderful world of living on Pensacola Beach forever wonderful. PBAdvocates.org.