Walton County resistance to sidewalk 'buy-outs' continues
SANTA ROSA BEACH — As the county continues to resist developers' interest in "buying out" sidewalk requirements for their projects, Walton County Planning Director Mac Carpenter on Wednesday convinced representatives of Roberts Real Estate Investment to move away from its requested buyout.
Roberts Real Estate Investments is in the process of developing a planned 27-townhome development on a little less than 5 acres off Harstvedt Road north of Chat Holley Road,
The county allows developers to pay a fee to avoid sidewalk installation. But in recent months the Walton County Board of County Commissioners and other county agencies have been increasingly reluctant to consider those buyouts, which in many cases expand the county's responsibility for sidewalk installation.
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At Wednesday's meeting of the Walton County Technical Review Committee, representatives of the Harstvedt Road project indicated a willingness not to buy out the sidewalks, and at Carpenter's suggestion, to work with the county's Public Works Department to find a location near their development where the county will eventually need to install sidewalks and to build them there.
"If you choose not to place it (the sidewalk) within the development where it's required by the code, I would strongly recommend you propose putting it on Harstvedt Road," Carpenter told the development team. "That would be a significant improvement ... in pedestrian safety."
The Harstvedt Road subdivision was conditionally approved Wednesday by the TRC, and as a major development, will head to the Planning Commission and the County Commission for further review and action.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Walton County working with developers to find place for new sidewalks
