Done deal: Walton Commission consummates $9.5M purchase of Eastern Lake property

SEAGROVE BEACH — With little time to spare, the Walton County Commission was able to salvage a deal that will add an estimated 500 feet of beach to its public property inventory.

Commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday to pay $9.5 million for a 3-acre tract of beach between Eastern Lake and the Gulf of Mexico near the Seagrove Beach community. The property includes the outfall that connects the rare coastal dune lake to the Gulf of Mexico.

The property sale will be completed Thursday, a day ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline landowner Peter Russell had set when he began negotiating with the county in October.

The purchase will be paid for with tourist development tax funds.

Just in the nick of time: Walton County still negotiating multimillion-dollar Eastern Lake purchase; deadline looms

Appraised value jumped $15 million in three years: Eastern Lake beachfront property was appraised at $3M in 2018. Why is it $18M now?

As part of the transaction, commissioners agreed to sign a document stating that the fair market value of the beach parcel was $18 million at the time of the sale and that Russell had provided the county $8.5 million of the value as a charitable donation.

The 4-1 super majority vote was required for the transaction to be finalized. Commissioner Tony Anderson, who cast the single dissenting vote, said he was in favor of buying the beach parcel, but as a self-described "pain in the butt rule follower" he did not feel he could honestly agree to $18 million as a fair market value for the land Russell was selling.

"I have a problem when I vote on something and I have to lie to someone to vote on it. ... I know that property is not worth $18 million," he said. "I feel like I'm lying to the IRS, which I despise, but it's still a lie."

The commission was assured by interim County Attorney Clay Adkinson that the tax credit Russell and his company, San Roy Holdings LLC, would seek for contributing $8.5 million in property to the county was "between Mr. Russell and the IRS."

Adkinson said signing the tax document in which the fair market value was listed at $18 million would not affect the sale, and commissioners could not be held liable for attestations made by Russell to the federal government.

Area residents passionate about saving an environmental gem: Is 3 acres of Walton County beach worth $18 million? Commissioners are considering it.

Russell originally approached the county with an offer to sell the parcel for $18 million, which he told them was the price he'd had it appraised for. Two county appraisals, however, estimated the value of the land at $6 million.

Russell at one point considered offering to split the difference and sell the county the property for $12 million, but by mid-December with the deadline looming, the sale price had dropped to $10 million, so long as commissioners agreed to the $18 million appraisal.

Many residents, particularly those living in Seagrove Beach, appeared willing throughout negotiations between Russell and the county to have commissioners spend whatever it took to obtain the land.

In public forums they cited preserving the unique environmental features of Eastern Lake and all 15 of the county's coastal dune lakes, the benefit to the public of adding more county-owned beach and the opportunity to remove a large swath of coastline from private ownership. Russell on Tuesday estimated the beachfront at just under 500 feet.

Alternative proposals were floated during negotiations for the sale: 'Another avenue': Could Walton County use eminent domain to obtain 3-acre Eastern Lake beach property?

"To me it is priceless, to these neighbors it is priceless, to the world it is priceless," Realtor Debbie Heard told commissioners in October.

Prior to Tuesday's vote, Russell reminded commissioners that their children's children would thank them if they agreed to buy his property.

"Today your vote will be part of your legacy," he said. "This could be a step forward into the future of Walton County."

Tentative plans call for construction of a pedestrian bridge spanning the outfall, whose width, depth and even location is dictated by environmental factors that include tides, rains and winds. There also has been discussion of adding parking nearby and installing restrooms and other amenities.

San Roy Road resident John Martin, though, thought the county would be better served buying the property and then leaving it as is.

"I humbly request that when you deed the land over to the county you put restrictions in for no improvements," Martin said. "Put in the deed that we're going to leave it alone."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton County buys beach property next to Eastern Lake outfall for $9.5M