On this page, we will share your thoughts, both residents and visitors to Walton County, stating why every grain of sand on Florida’s beaches should be available to all Americans. Do you believe children should be able to play freely and that families should be able to picnic on the sands of South Walton without orange cones or security guards? Do you want to see the welcoming spirit that once prevailed on our gorgeous shores to return? We invite you to join the fight by making your voice heard by filling out the contact form at the bottom of this page.
“Because the natural beauty in our area should be freely enjoyed by everyone, locals and tourists alike. The elites who own homes on these beaches probably reside mostly in other states anyway and the local ones, who I have spoken to, don’t mind people enjoying the beach in front of their home, so long as they are respectful. The cones and other measures that limit access are also a potential source of pollution, as one can’t guarantee they will not end up in the Gulf, not to mention they are an eye sore.” Heather -Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Customary use of the beach is the right thing to do – for the economy of South Walton. The sustainability of South Walton depends on it. If locals and tourists can’t freely access the beach (aside from small overcrowded public postage-stamp-sized areas) then South Walton becomes an undesirable place to live & visit. We’re all here for the beach—that’s the ONLY thing South Walton has going. Limit that to the elite who feel entitled and have shady back-room quiet deed deals—- and you’re creating a market crash and the END to the 30A reputation of being a desirable place. It’s the end of the ride and property values will plummet. No one wins. It’s just wrong any way you look at it.” Judi – Franklin, TN
“Am a frequent out-of-state visitor and we are now considering avoiding the 30A area due to such petty beach access restrictions.” James – Decatur, GA
“It’s a travesty.” Sonja – Freeport, FL
“Beaches are for all to enjoy.”
Karen – Spring, TX
“Don’t let America’s 30A Beaches be stolen.”
John – Santa Rosa Beach
“The beach should be available to all.”
Lyn – Ennismore, Canada
“I became a full-time Florida resident 7 years ago. So much has changed in the last couple of years. We have gone from uncrowded beaches with friendly faces & everyone sharing equally to a completely different scene. Greedy landowners have put up private beach signs & aggressively enforced the sentiment. This has forced people closer together on a much less free beachfront. It’s unsightly to see tons of chair rentals & private beach signs everywhere. Restore customary use!” Jessica – Panama City, FL
“There is nowhere to put a chair on the beach, due to the beach being lost through these legal battles and the massive overdevelopment that has been out of control, let’s not forget the tourists either. I moved here in 93 when we could freely access the beaches. This year I’ve had days where I finally get a spot to park, but no place to sit. Let’s change this for the better of all!” Wendy – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Everyone should have recreational access to beach fronts – not just the rich!” Naomi – Simsbury, CT
“Leave beaches alone.” Vicki – Abilene, TX
“Beaches are a natural beauty and should be available to all. There should be no private beaches!”
Gail – Crestview, FL
“I live here and believe more of the beach should be protected as a natural resource to be enjoyed by all as it has been for so many years before the unfortunate greed overtook the area.”
Elizabeth – Santa Rosa Beach
“Makes no sense how a privileged few who are fortunate enough to afford the front-row views should be able to keep the rest of us from enjoying the beaches people have used forever!”
Lisa – Santa Rosa Beach
“I go to the beach on 30A. Those cones are unnecessary. We don’t go on your private beaches.” Sherry – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I was born 54 years ago in Ft Walton Beach. Since then my family and I have watched the continuing overdevelopment move from west to east. As a homeowner on 30A, I have had nightmares that a scenario such as we face now was inevitable. To be truthful, I had imagined that it would be the State of Florida that would put our beloved state parks up for sale to the highest bidding developer. How could anyone have guessed that it would be only the state parks that remain for the public. This is a travesty in so many ways. The overdevelopment has caused issues for BFO’s, understood. But they have alienated the rest of their surrounding community in ways that are only beginning to be felt. Saddest of times for the whole area. Shame.” Brad – San Antonio, TX
“The beach should be a public place for all people. The beach should not be allowed to be owned. It’s public space that cannot be bought and where people and all families have the right to access and enjoy. It’s a joke this is even a petition that has to be signed.” Abby – Lexington, KY
“Please save our Beaches.” Teressa – Campbellsville, KY
“The beach should be available for all.”
Rayner – Fortville, IN
“The beach belongs to everyone! What a ridiculous idea – not being able to sit wherever we want!”
Mary – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“It’s not right!!!!!”
Stephen – New York, NY
“Customary use allowed ALL people to use the beaches just as God intended. I purchased property on the north side of 30A under the Customary Use but now those rights have been taken away from me and all friends and guests of my property. My rights have been violated along with the rights of ALL people wishing to use the beach.” Mechelle – LaGrange, GA
“Big Daddy St Joe Company/BlackRock/Vanguard/Tate Street have a “50 yr plan” to the Alabama state line.” Sonja – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Our beaches should be enjoyed by all. We need to stop complicating this area.” Sabrina – Miramar Beach, FL
“As a property owner in Walton County my family deserves better. All visitors to 30A should be able to enjoy the beach as they have for years. We should be welcoming the visitors and not making this an impossible situation. People have many other options and they will start [going] to other places.” Billy – Nashville, TN
“The people that own homes on the beach think they have the right to take away the beach from others is absurd.”
Kathleen – Franklin, TN
“I can’t sit on the beach across the street from my home. I pay almost $9K a year in taxes yet have to drive 1.5 miles to get on a public beach.”
Cynthia – Tallahassee, FL
“THIS is The Ongoing Push By The FASCIST That Want To Have Minority Rule. That’s NOT DEMOCRACY, IT’S ANTI-AMERICAN.”
Kathy – Lake Worth, FL
“What? No, that’s completely unacceptable and not right. The beach is not only for people who think they can have everything in their path [they can see]. That’s terrible and not acceptable. My God what’s happening with these people and their mindset? Nooooo noooo [beach] is for [all to] enjoy what the Creator gives us to enjoy and use for a good collective benefit.” Rebecca – San Juan, Puerto Rico
“I have been a homeowner here since 1998 and became a full-time resident in 2000. I had the privilege to live on the beach in Seagrove Beach for 10 years. My home was next to a public access. Never, until all the recent claims that beachfront residents “own” the beach, has there been an issue with the public’s use of the beach. I lived next to a public beach access and it was never a problem. Our county government, with their moves to grant quiet titles for beachfront owners and decision to abandon the fight for customary use, have truly killed the goose that laid the golden egg. People both moved here, and visit here, for exactly what has been largely taken away. The beaches are only not for the “connected” and elite BFO, they are for all to be able to enjoy.” Gale Cynthia – Tallahassee, FL
“Why is Walton County the only coastal county in the entire State of Florida dealing with this issue? Let’s take back our beach for everyone.” Heidi – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Insanity brought on by greed and selfishness has created this issue. Florida beaches are a way to reset yourself [even] if only for a few days or a week.” Judy – Bossier City, LA
“[Beach privatization] needs attention.”
Donald – Terre Haute, IN
“The beaches should be available to all. Nobody has the right to “own a beach”.
Grace – East Brunswick, NJ
“No words.”
Carol – York, PA
“God gave the Earth to all mankind. He reminded us that it’s easier for a camel to get thru the needle’s eye than for a rich man to inherit God’s Kingdom. The greed of the elites will be the Midas touch [that destroys our community].” Joey – Colorado Springs, CO
“Beaches are like parks; they should be accessed by everyone. Not just a few!” Linda – Paonia, CO
“The beaches are God created, God provided to all people regardless of financial status. Beaches should be public for all to enjoy the special healing powers provided by God.” Todd – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I’m a local. We’ve owned our property since 1980 before 30A beaches were even on the map, so to speak. Give our beaches back to the tax payers.” Thalia – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I will fight greedy arrogant elitists if I get a chance. This is a chance.”
Ralph – Columbus, MS
“We have to save the people’s beaches. What will we be left with, I ask.”
Norma – San Antonio, TX
“God made this earth for all to enjoy. We take care of the earth and it takes care of us.”
Lesa – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“The beaches are for everyone. It is our right and we all pay taxes too. You [Walton County] and Naples are the only counties and people can’t believe this.” Lisette – Inlet, FL
“I’m signing because, we, the residents and visitors alike have proved over and over again, that we have had Customary Use of our beautiful beaches for hundreds and hundreds of years from the first tribes to recent times. I’ve been so lucky to have enjoyed our beaches with my family and friends, until now, revealing such dreadful greed.” Jan – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“If you rent your home or have a rental agency, write your Legislators and the Governor and tell them to reverse course legislatively and restore our beaches to public use.” Dave – Rosemary Beach, FL
“These beaches are public domain and as such should remain accessible to the public. Privatization of beaches to be used by a privileged few is tantamount to stealing directly from the government, which is owned and operated by the public. Who has been paying for the upkeep of these beaches for years? It wasn’t private homeowners.” Evan – Brooklyn, NY
“This situation is horrible. It will hurt our tourism income.”
William – United States
“The beaches should be open to everyone.”
Kathy – Gallatin, TN
“I believe beaches should be for all to use and enjoy.”
William – Austin, TX
“Beach access should not be decided by money interests.” Terry – Corvallis, OR
“It is our beach. The reason we all live here. Some of us have been walking on it for decades. It is a public space for all of us to enjoy.”
“Access to the sea should not be limited to the wealthy.” Angela – Micco, FL
“It is ridiculous that individuals want to claim they own the beach.”
Dot – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“No one owns the beach.”
Teressa – Campbellsville, KY
“Beaches should be accessible to all.”
Sherilyn – Wylie, TX
“The beaches should be open without restrictions to all residents and visitors. We are a tourist destination and these restrictions can negatively impact our tax base.” Jan – Fort Walton, FL
“I love the beaches on 30A on the gulf coast and they should be available for all to enjoy!” Brock – West Des Moines, IA
“No one should own the beach! They used to own to the toe of the dune. Someone has been making money with quiet titles!!” Nancy – Ponce de Leon, FL
“I can’t stand the greed and entitlement some of the BFO’s are displaying. The beaches are for everyone, they always have been.”
Vickie – Mossy Head, FL
“Beaches should be public. Not right for people to own the sand and trying to keep citizens from enjoying what we have for generations!”
Elizabeth – Laurel Hill, FL
“Locals and tourists DESERVE to enjoy the beaches!! We can walk IN THE WET SAND! Our elected officials have sold sand NOT FOR SALE! Free Walton County’s beaches!”
Lisa – Lake Harbor, FL
“I believe everyone has the right to enjoy our natural resources; especially the beach.” Michele – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I live here. Going to the beach with all the sandwich boards with private property is sickening! Whoever has more money wins? The greed needs to be stopped! I didn’t move here to be told where I can or cannot walk. THIS IS MY beach attitude is assisine [silly] and SO unwelcoming! It divides us as residents!” Karen – Steamboat Springs, CO
“No sand anywhere in the United States should be private. Stop this before all the beaches are gone. The Senators we elect should be stopping this crap. Instead they represent the 1% and their interest. It takes more than the 1% to get in office. I think it’s time the people reminded them of this.” Brittany – Villa Rica, GA
“All beaches were meant to be open and free to the general public.”
Tom – Hickory, NC
“No beach in the United States should be private.”
John – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Born and raised in Florida. All beaches should be for public access. You want a private beach go to California.”
Donna – Boca Raton, FL
“I have been visiting 30a since I was a child, and I have raised my boys coming to the beach there at many of the various communities. We have often stayed across the street from the beach, and many of the vacation homes we love are having all their walkable access removed under this ordinance. This is harmful to the local businesses and will impact tourism, due to the restriction of beach access. The few people who benefit from this do not outnumber the many who are negatively impacted. This will hurt the real estate market, the money the county collects from tourism and destroys the ability for many families to enjoy vacationing in a place they love. No one should own the beach. Beachfront owners should own to the edge of the dune and straight down. If they have a private boardwalk, they can display a “private property” sign on said boardwalk. However, the amount of resources private owners are requiring from the county to police “their beaches” is a completely ludicrous overreach. As a frequent visitor and friend of many property owners and business owners in the area, I implore lawmakers to reconsider this and rule in favor of what is best for the local economy and all the people who know and love everything 30A.” Jessica – Murfreesboro, TN
“As a small business owner and citizen of Walton County, I see Private Beaches leading to the detriment of our once amazing beach town. Hope everyone will stand together and fight.” Patrick – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I live in PCB in winter [where] they have preserved beach access. [However] along 30A [there is] hardly any access. Like Destin [it’s] hard to just go watch sunset on beach.” Dawn – Vernon in British Columbia, Canada
“This is so wrong and I am a Native!!”
Deborah – Freeport, FL
“Stand up for the freedom of the beach.”
Abby – Roswell, GA
“This land is your land, this land is my land”
Leo – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“I use Blue Mountain beach with my family and want to be free to enjoy the beach.” Steve – Alpharetta, GA
“Dear Governor DeSantis, Please come to South Walton County to see how messed up our beach situation is.” Jeff – United States
“I live here and can’t find parking and if I do then I can’t find any beach to enjoy! Ridiculous!!” Michele – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“The beaches should be enjoyed by all.”
Christine – Knoxville, TN
“We can’t let that [beach privatization] happen.”
July – Kettering, OH
“Justicia [free our beaches].”
Alicia – :La Paz, Bolivia
“No man should be able to take a person’s right away to walk on the beach. The beach is a place of solitude and sanity for many people. There are so many of our freedoms taken away. Men are taking our GOD given right to walk a beach.” Jeanie – Mt. Dora, FL
“Those beaches belong to all of us. If all the beaches become private, we can kiss our tourism dollars goodbye. Already visitors are saying they won’t be returning to FL to get bullied and chased off of enjoying the beach with their families. Plenty of beaches in the US that are welcoming.” Irene – Theodore, AL
“We have a house in Dune Allen and what was once a wonderful, welcoming place is being ruined by ugly signs and uglier owners. Beaches belong to all!” Matthew – Baton Rouge, LA
“America’s beaches belong to all Americans, not just a privileged few.”
Meghan – Long Beach, CA
“I totally believe that God created the beaches for everyone to use. Not meant for just the chosen few!”
Fran – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“Beaches are public property! Free the SAND from dunes to gulf, high tide [to] low tide.”
Peggy – Winter Haven, FL