Questions about a U.S. Senate bill that would change beach ownership rules dominated a beach town hall meeting on Tuesday.
Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson told beach residents some of their questions could not be answered until after Congress acts. Escambia County leaders willmove forward with specific changes once the federal law is changed, he said.
"This is not something that can happen overnight," Robinson said after questions about beach subleases, lost county income and other issues.
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Robinson told the crowd of both beach residents and opponents of the bill that he has worked for nearly a dozen years to untangle the complicated lease fee system that has governed beach ownership for the last seven decades.
Beach residents told Robinson and the bill's opponents that they have long been unfairly double taxed because they pay both lease fees and property taxes.
"This is an issue that is very difficult to get around," said Robinson, who assured opponents that legislation would not change the character of Pensacola Beach.
"The Escambia County languageensures that all of the areas that are truly public in nature, the public amenities that we enjoy, will stay public," Robinsonsaid.
But members of Save Pensacola Beach, a group organized to oppose the legislation, said the bill is overly vague and doesn't go far enough to protect area beaches from over development.
"All of the citizens of Escambia County do not know what is going on with this, and we deserve to know what is happening with public land that was deeded to all of us,"said Diane Krumel, a member of the group, which is pushing for Escambia County voters, rather than Congress, to decide on any changes tobeach ownership rules.
The legislationwould overturn restrictions put in place by the federal government when it deeded much of Santa Rosa Island to Escambia County after World War II. The 1946 agreement stated the county could not sell the beach land and must use it "for such purposes as it shall deem to be in the public interest."
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In the 1950s, county leaders decided the greatest benefit to the general public would be to develop the land anddraw tourism revenue. Because county leaders were prohibited from selling the land, they created a series of 99-year lease agreements and established the Santa Rosa Island Authority to issue the leases.
The county later turned to the beach properties as a source of tax revenue, leading to a series of lawsuits that continue today. The lawsuits claim property taxes should not be collected on land that is leased and not owned.
Supporters of the Senate bill say it would simplifythe complicated lease fee system and ensure private property rights. Opponents say it would open the door to the widespread development and no trespassing signscommon on other Florida beaches.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gatez, R-Fort Walton Beach, sponsored the legislation, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year.U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.
Bill Nelson, Florida's Democratic U.S. senator, had signed on as a cosponsor of the bill, but Nelson said in a news release on Monday that he is rethinking his support for the bill. Nelson said he is concerned language in the bill does not protect conservation lands on Navarre Beach. Nelson also wants to include language in the bill to prevent Santa Rosa leaders from cutting a pass through Navarre Beach for quick boat access from Santa Rosa Sound to the Gulf of Mexico.
Air Force leaders have said a Navarre pass would imperil military training on miles of military owned beach stretching between Navarre and Destin.
Robinson said Tuesday night that he had no control over requests by Santa Rosa County to remove conservation language involving Navarre Beach from the bill.
"In Escambia County, one of the things we have done is put forward language that everything you have right now that is public will remain public in perpetuity. Our language is what should have been done by Santa Rosa County, but they did not copy that language for whatever reason,"he said.
Opponents of the bill questioned whether Escambia County, which leased Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County for a nominal feein the 1950s, couldn't determine what happens with conservation areas along Navarre Beach.
Robinson said Escambia County essentially turned over all control of Navarre Beach to Santa Rosa County under the lease agreement.
"Decisions for Navarre Beach need to take place in Milton, we are focused on what is best for Pensacola Beach," he said.
