Some people who live on Perdido Key say Beach Access No. 1 is like walking through a police buffer zone.
During the height of tourist season, there are often deputies, a patrol car and black and yellow boundary tape, that some say resembles crime scene tape, cordoning off the areas between the private property owned by condominiums from the walking path down to the beach.
“It’s intimidating, unnecessary and wasteful,” Escambia County resident Ally Brooks told county commissioners at their Oct. 16 board meeting. “It appears to residents that they as taxpayers are paying for county employees to bully and intimidate as directed by a few large condos. Is this message that we want to send to current and prospective residents?”
On the beach, visitors say there is often more security, boundary tape and signs directing the public to the wet sand area, but when they get there, rows of beach umbrellas and chairs are lined up to the water line.
Some say it’s enough to make the public feel unwelcome in a place that was meant for public beach access.
Kimberly Combs said she has been vacationing on Perdido Key for 30 years and bought a condo near Beach Access No. 1 a couple of years ago.
“It looks horrible in the summer because the beach access is roped off with yellow crime scene tape,” Combs told the board. “It’s my understanding the condominiums have contracted with the beach setup people, and they plop their stuff down all along the water line, leaving absolutely no space for the public of Escambia County to enjoy these beautiful beaches. That is ridiculous. You have tons of beautiful white sand that nobody’s sitting on because everybody is crammed down at the water line.”
In areas where the beach is considered private, the public is allowed access to the “wet sand” area, which is south of the mean high-water line.
This means that while private property may extend to the high-water mark, the public is generally permitted to walk, swim and fish in the wet sand area.
Access to the dry sand portion of the beach is often restricted to private property owners.
Residents want to see the county adopt an ordinance that would allow activities like walking, fishing and swimming in the “dry sand” area of beaches, even on privately owned beachfront property, arguing that Senate Bill 1622 signed into law in June creates the opportunity to do so.
Walton County customary use
The fight over customary use beach access largely originated with nearby Walton County.
After Walton County unilaterally declared all its beaches open to public use, a 2018 state law reversed that action and forced Walton County (and all other coastal communities) to follow the law and seek a judicial determination of customary use. In Florida, the state Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that in order to judicially establish customary use, a local government must prove that the public’s beach use has been ancient, reasonable, without interruption and free from dispute.
Walton County filed a lawsuit against private property owners to affirm customary use and the case ended with a vast majority of private property being dismissed with no customary use having been established. There were certain property owners who reached a settlement that called for limited public use to a 20-foot zone for “walking and sitting” on some private parcels.
The 2025 bill repealing the 2018 law actually focused more on the establishment of an erosion control line and made no change to the requirements to judicial establish customary use.
Some urge Escambia County to take action after 2025 bill
Several people are urging the Escambia County board to use the 2025 bill to change the ordinance for Perdido Beach, especially in light of the discovery of the original deeds to some Gulf-front properties revealed there are 75-foot public access easements opening about 1.2 miles of beach previously thought exclusive.
Escambia County resident Gary Holt is with the Perdido Key Surf Club, and he has been fighting for more public access on Perdido Key for years.
He and others say the discovery of the original deeds revealing the 75-foot public access easement on some properties is a win for the public that the county can help protect by recognizing the new law.
Escambia County is currently in litigation with Windermere Condo owners over public access to the easement, who say they were told the beach was part of the deal when they bought their units.
“This is our 75-foot easement on the beach,” Holt said. “The Windemere Condo owners are arguing that the easement has never been used. I gave the county attorney 30 names and phone numbers of Escambia County citizens that have used that beach over the last 10 years. The judge has to rule and the side that loses will appeal. That’s how it works! But this should be settled before Walton County gets any answer on Customary Use.”
Mediation in the Perdido Key case in Escambia County is scheduled for Oct. 20 and 21.
Escambia County Commissioner Steve Stroberger, who represents Perdido Key and is participating in the mediation hearings on behalf of the county along with other staff members, said he is waiting on the results of that negotiation before deciding on recognizing SB 1622.
The county is also following ongoing litigation over the Walton County customary use case, but some want the county to act now because the lawsuits may drag on.
“Something needs to be done in terms of allowing everybody in the community in Escambia County to enjoy our beaches,” Combs said.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia waits as calls grow to enact law allowing greater Perdido Key public beach access
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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