beyond the headlines

 

History In The Making
Destin Approves Harbor Redesign
By Alton Wallace
For about 20 years, a group of Destin’s business and civic leaders have tried to gather support for a plan to build a boardwalk along the north shore of the city’s harbor. A boardwalk along the docks that serves as home to Florida’s biggest charter fishing fleet, they say, would be a popular gathering place that would attract residents and visitors to the harbor to eat, shop and play. However, two efforts by city leaders during the last 15 years to put together a harbor redevelopment plan with a boardwalk as its centerpiece have failed to go beyond the design phase.

But a third attempt to revitalize the harbor has broad community support. A conceptual plan was approved in November by the board of the Destin Harbor Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), a body formed in 2003 that consists of Destin’s seven city council members. The plan encompasses a 400-acre area bounded by the harbor, the Marler Bridge, Beach Drive and Azalea Drive.

Sarah “Sam” Seevers, who chairs the CRA board, said the pieces are finally in place to implement a redevelopment plan. “The prior plans, Visions 2000 in the mid-1990s and the Sasaki plan in 1999, failed primarily because there was no funding,” Seevers said. “But, also, there was no consensus. There were disagreements about limitations on building height, which some wanted to set at 70 feet, and regarding a proposal to reroute (U.S.) Highway 98.”

The CRA board chose Tetra Tech Inc., a California-based engineering firm that has an office in Destin, to lead the planning process. Tetra Tech partnered with EDSA, an urban planning and design firm, and Economic Research Associates, which conducted a market analysis. “One of the main reasons the current plan will work,” Seevers said, “is because Tetra Tech and EDSA did an outstanding job of talking with everyone and balancing the different viewpoints in the Harbor District.”

During the planning process, Tetra Tech Senior Vice President Frank Gianotti said his firm held about 100 meetings with groups and individuals that included the harbor’s fishermen, residents, business people and developers. “For more than a year, we tried to engage everyone we could find with a stake in the harbor’s future. We listened to anyone who wanted to talk about the harbor—that is the real key to this kind of process—to learn about their hopes, expectations and concerns,” Gianotti said.

The plan’s first phase calls for expenditures of between $10 million and $15 million for construction of a park and plaza on a 60-foot-wide parcel on Harbor Boulevard located just west of the Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant; an incentives plan intended to encourage waterfront property owners to build the so-called “Festival Marketplace” section of the boardwalk, which is to run from the Marler Bridge to the Destin Yacht Club; and improvements to Mountain Drive that include the addition of a turn lane, bike path, sidewalk, landscaping and measures to alleviate drainage problems. Phase 1 may also include land acquisitions for public parking on the north side of Harbor Boulevard, according to city officials.

Paul Kissinger, a principal with EDSA, said the park and plaza are critical elements of the redevelopment plan. “The park will serve as a gateway to the harbor; it should draw people to the water. That’s our goal,” he said. “That means, among other things, that the park must provide a view of the water from Harbor Boulevard. When people drive through the Harbor District, there are few places where they can see the waterfront, so they’re unaware of the energy that exists down there.”

It’s also important that the park’s design be consistent with Destin’s character and flavor, Kissinger said. “All the people we’ve talked to during this process have said that. They want to see a park that reflects Destin’s heritage as a fishing community.”

The city council voted in December to name the park the “Capt. Royal Melvin Heritage Park” to honor the longtime charter boat captain and community leader. According to CRA estimates, about $3.5 million would be spent to build the park. The city bought the land in 2006 for $4.6 million, but Destin officials said they have applied for a grant through the Florida Communities Trust that may cover up to 75 percent of the purchase price. City officials expect to begin construction on the park and other phase one projects in early 2009.

Phase 2 is expected to begin in four to six years, and if CRA estimates are correct, $40 to $45 million will be available to spend on projects that may include improvements to Harbor District side streets, further east-west development of the boardwalk and an overhead pedestrian crossing on Harbor Boulevard.

Destin Mayor Craig Barker worked as a deckhand on one of the harbor’s charter boats when he was 14 years old. In 1998, two years after Barker became the youngest city council member in Destin history, he began working to facilitate harbor redevelopment efforts. “Our plan for redevelopment of the Harbor District is designed to accentuate our famous charter fishing fleet,” he said. “It includes a public boardwalk stretching the entire length of the harbor with public access from the north, south, east and west; a municipal parking program; and a first-class museum of fishing and the history of Destin.”

Barker said he believes preserving public access to the harbor is imperative. “It’s no secret that Destin’s beachfront has slowly become privatized as residential condominium development has occurred,” he said. “Without a master plan to prevent it from happening, market forces will drive condominium development along the north shore of Destin Harbor as well. Condominium development on the harbor would privatize the waterfront and drive visitors away—ultimately resulting in our famous charter fishing fleet being displaced in favor of private yachts. And in my opinion that would ruin our history and heritage forever.“

Peter Bos, president of Legendary Inc., said he is euphoric about the harbor’s future. Bos said his company, a diversified Destin-based real estate development company that owns and operates resorts, restaurants, marinas, golf courses and other businesses, began talking about harbor redevelopment with other community leaders in the early 1980s. Last summer, Legendary completed construction on Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village, a 13-story, 281-unit condominium development located on a 14.7-acre site at the southeastern landing of the Marler Bridge.

“I’ve never seen a piece of property that beautiful,” Bos said. “The Gulf of Mexico, Choctawatchee Bay and East Pass all come together in one spot. The combination of that beautiful water and incredible white sand come together right there at the mouth of the harbor.”

In summer 2008, Bos said the first phase of the HarborWalk Village would open. It is set to include 100,000 square feet of space containing retail shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. When the project is completed, Legendary will have spent more than $500 million to build Emerald Grande and HarborWalk Village, he said.

A boardwalk and a park will unlock the harbor’s enormous potential, Bos said. “I don’t know of anything in the state or the entire region more interesting than what is happening here with the harbor. When people see it they are going to like it.”