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Scenic News
A Place: Florida National Scenic Trail Northern Terminus Gulf Islands National Seashore
Photo: NPS "The Florida National Scenic Trail , or just Florida Trail, is a federally-designated trail intended to offer a continuous non-motorized recreation opportunity showcasing the biodiversity, history, and culture of Florida. Its northern terminus lies here on...
SIGN really for airplanes and pedestrian safety? Controversial “art mural” in DeFuniak Springs
Photo: Flickr JR P as seen in Only in Your State Florida "DeFuniak Springs officials say they want the city to be a destination spot for tourists. One way of doing this is by promoting the arts. 'It’s been a bit of a collaborative effort between Main Street and the...
“Named The Most Beautiful Small Town In Florida, Take A Closer Look At DeFuniak Springs”
Photo: Only In Your State Florida "MSN Insider came out with a list of the best small towns in every state, and we’re happy to say that DeFuniak Springs was named the most beautiful spot in Florida. This panhandle gem is loaded with history, but also boasts a...
Scenic Manatee: “Palma Sola Causeway sign rules to be enforced”
Photo: Kristin Swain, Anna Maria Island Sun "As long as money doesn’t exchange hands, watercraft rentals and other businesses are allowed to operate on the Palma Sola Scenic Highway corridor. Anyone who’s traveled the Palma Sola Scenic Highway has seen the roadside...
“Best place to park? In the shade, of course!”
Photo: Scenic Jacksonville "We need many M🌳RE shade trees planted throughout Jacksonville, like this Southern Magnolia, to ensure cooler walking, dining, lounging, spectating, strolling, biking and yes, parking spaces." -- Scenic Jacksonville Visit Scenic...
“Meet the teenager who helped push Florida toward cleaner energy”
Photo: Robin Loznak, Our Children's Trust "For most of his 15 years, Levi Draheim led a beachy life on a barrier island on Florida's east coast, swimming, surfing and sailing in the nearshore waves. He dreamed of someday becoming a marine biologist. But Levi's world...
Save Money on Air Conditioning: “More trees, not cooling centers, are South Florida’s answer to increasingly hot summers”
Lack of Shade Photo: Kimberly Miller "Late July blistered with sandy skies and soupy air in South Florida as a slug of Saharan dust drained clouds of rain while moisture clung to the surface like hot gum on a shoe. The combination of a dry middle atmosphere blocking...
Energy savings: “Electronic Signs going dark in Germany and Spain” Is UK next?
Photo: AV Magazine "Switch off digital signs off at night to save energy. Government decrees that out-of-home advertising spaces, as well as display and LED signage in shop windows, are switched off from 10pm-6am to prevent an energy shortage from September. The...
Fewer “Zombie” eyesores and more affordable housing units made available during a major transformation of St. Petersburg’s codes process
St. Petersburg improves its housing stock by transforming vacant lots into affordable housing. Photo: Mark Wemple "By dealing aggressively with the owners of dilapidated homes and vacant lots, St. Petersburg has improved its housing stock — and is transforming some...
“The 9 Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping™”
Photo: UF "1. Right Plant, Right Place Achieving a healthy, low-maintenance home landscape starts with putting the right plant in the right place. Select plants that match a site’s soil, light, water, and climatic conditions. 2. Water Efficiently An efficient...
“Pensacola developing tree database to learn status of every city-owned tree”
Photo: Tony Giberson "Pensacola will soon know the location, size and health status of every tree on city property. Over the next seven weeks, crews from the consulting firm Geosyntec will be in city parks and along city streets cataloging every tree into a new...
LEGAL: “Federal appeals court backs Florida man in religious sign dispute”
"A federal appeals court Tuesday sided with a man who challenged a Fort Myers Beach ordinance that prevented him from carrying a sign with a Christian message on the town's streets. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a district judge...
“Here’s Your New Bike Lane. Oh, Did You Want It to Go Somewhere?”
Photo: Matt Roth for WSF "...City officials across the U.S. are installing hundreds of miles of bike lanes as they respond to a cycling boom that began during the pandemic and capitalize on federal grants, including from the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure law. But...
“Green Gables nonprofit receives grant to buy, save Melbourne historic house”
Photo: Tim Shortt, Florida Today "Constructed as a cutting-edge showpiece mansion in its era, Melbourne's aged Green Gables estate has slowly structurally deteriorated over the generations — within the looming shadow of a wrecking ball. Volunteers have spent the past...
Littering: “4th-grader works to educate others on the issue of cigarette butts littering Florida beaches”
Video: Orlando News 13 "Shells and sand aren’t the only things you’ll see on Florida’s beaches — cigarette butts are also a common sight. According to a 2021 report from Ocean Conservancy and International Coastal Cleanup, cigarettes were the number one trash item...
Tampa’s Bob Buckhorn to speak at Scenic Jacksonville’s 2022 Great Cities Symposium
"Jacksonville, FL (June 7, 2022) – Scenic Jacksonville is pleased to announce that former Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn will be its guest speaker at the 2022 Great Cities Symposium on Wednesday, October 12th from 5 until 8 p.m. at the Garden Club of Jacksonville, 1005...
Growing Problem? The market for artificial turf is rapidly growing partially driven by extreme draught conditions in much of the country…artifical turf coming to Florida too!
Photo: PRweb.com "This August, Turf Distributors is opening a new distribution center in Davie, Florida. This new facility will significantly speed up deliveries across the East Coast. Artificial grass dealers and distributors operating in the Florida area can now...
Fernandina Beach Commissioners dive into tree protection controversy and go ahead with vote to protect six Heritage Trees
Photo: Shown in Fernandina Observer "Amelia Island’s trees are beloved by its residents, and problems with protecting those trees will go before the Fernandina Beach City Commission at the Commissioners’ workshop in a couple weeks. The issue drew a number of people to...
Legal Update: “New motions filed in Federal lawsuit involving Private Beach signs”
“”Beachfront property owners who had sued Walton County in federal court over its ordinance banning unpermitted obstructions on the beach such as ropes, chains, signs, and fences, have filed new motions in the case.
Among other requests, they have asked the court for a stay on discovery proceedings in connection with common law customary right issues until the court resolves the property owners’ claims against another ordinance, the customary use ordinance approved by Walton County on Oct. 25…The ordinance banning unpermitted obstructions on the beach stated that it applied to the beach as defined as ‘the soft sandy portion of land lying seaward of the seawall or the line of permanent dune vegetation.’
The plaintiffs, Ed and Delanie Goodwin, owners of beachfront property at Fort Panic in south Walton County, had filed their lawsuit in July 18, soon after Walton County approved the ordinance disallowing beach obstructions.
The litigation was in the form of a civil rights lawsuit. It alleged that the county ordinance prevented beachfront owners from using signs to convey messages, including those indicating property boundaries and private ownership—and that the ordinance therefore impeded signs as ‘a medium of speech.’ As such, the property owners maintained, the ordinance ‘violates the First Amendment on its face.’ They asked the court to bar enforcement of the ordinance, among other requests. In an August 15 response, Walton County argued that the property owners’ case was not ‘about’ free speech but was instead a disguised property rights position aimed at securing ‘a beachhead against the potential determination that the public has gained the right of use of the subject beach through the Customary Use doctrine.’
The county further stated that the ordinance did not interfere with the property owners’ ability to ‘display on their property any message they like in any manner they like, even using signs, so long as they comport with the restriction as to location.’ Signs, according to the county response, ‘are implicated only to the extent that they constitute an obstruction on the beach.’
In an Aug. 19 order, M. Casey Rodgers, chief United States District judge and presiding judge in the case, ordered an evidentiary hearing, observing, in part that, ‘If a public use custom is established, the property owner does not have the right to interfere with the public’s right of use and enjoyment…and thus the Plaintiffs’ alternative means of communication, i.e., placing signs on the remainder of their property, would be adequate.’ Adding that the ‘custom and use doctrine requires a fact-intensive inquiry that must be determined on a fully developed record,’ Judge Rodgers stated that this issue would ‘decide the merits of the suit.’ She ordered thus proceeding with the trial on its merits, with it to be consolidated with a hearing on the preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs.
The Goodwins were allowed to amend their original complaint to include both the obstruction and customary use ordinances. On Nov. 14 they filed a motion requesting an injunction against the recently-approved customary use ordinance, arguing that it represented a ‘taking’ of their property.
The customary use ordinance provides for public ‘at large’ to utilize the dry sand areas of the beach without interference for traditional recreational activities—with the exception of a buffer zone to be set aside at a distance seaward of the toe of the dune, or at the same distance from any privately-owned permanent habitable structure on or adjacent to the dry sand areas of the beach, whichever is more seaward.
The Nov. 14 motion was followed the next day by a motion by the Goodwins for a stay of discovery proceedings in connection with common law customary right uses of the beach until their taking claims in connection with the customary use ordinance had been resolved.
In the latest filing, on Nov. 21, Walton County responded to the plaintiffs amended complaint, asking the court to grant a motion requiring a ‘more definite statement’ from the plaintiffs, calling the complaint: ‘a vague, ambiguous, incoherent jumble.'”
— Dotty Nist, The Defuniak Herald
Boca: “First sharrow placed in city neighborhood”
“The city has installed its first sharrow, a shared lane marking and sign for motorists and bicyclists that could be a model for other neighborhoods with a heavy bike presence…
| Diagram: Figure 9-3 Florida Greenbook |
Developer who supports scenic beauty, buys property and bulldozes billboard!
“This billboard was purchased by a local development company, Dream Designs, Inc. in Rapid City, SD, so that they could take it down, and use the land for housing. They supported Scenic Rapid City in 2011 during the Billboard Initiative.
This billboard was completely non confirming and Grandfathered in. It had two boards on each side. They were two different sizes and OVERSIZED in a prime location; on a hill so that traffic had to view it.
It took away from the scenic beauty of our beautiful Black Hills since it was on the road to Mount Rushmore National Monument but still inside the Rapid City limits.'”
— Scenic Rapid City
Drawing: From Tampa Bay Times
“City planner Jeff Speck’s vision for Tampa’s downtown involves cooler temperatures and more walking. Speck is the lead planner overseeing the team working with Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and an engineering firm Stantec to redevelop land in the Channelside area…
“The deceptive nature of architectural renderings”
“Architects use many mediums to express their designs, ideas, and concepts. They use orthographic drawings, physical models, as well as digital models…How can we differentiate between what is reality and what is a false and biased representation of a building? How about photographs of architecture?
Miami: Commission CHANGES SIGN CODE to eliminate advertising towers
Delete. Throw out. Discard. Trash.
“…The measure, championed by Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, deletes the term ‘media towers’ from the city’s zoning code known as Miami 21.However, an attorney for Michael Simkins, the Miami Beach-based developer of the innovation tower [Giant LED Billboard Towers], told commissioners that his client plans to move forward with pending permit applications to build the project.’We will continue to implement this development irrespective of what is done today,’ said Tony Recio, a partner with Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman. ‘We look forward to having the permits fairly reviewed and evaluated.’In a statement to The Real Deal, Simkins said he does not believe the new ordinance can be applied to his project. ‘We are disappointed by the commission’s action,’ Simkins said. ‘But we expect the city to comply with the law and respect our rights by honoring the sign permit applications and media tower approval by the CRA, and processing the sign applications in good faith.’City commissioners Frank Carrollo, Willy Gort and Marc Sarnoff again voted in favor of the ordinance despite an impassioned plea from Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who was the innovation tower’s main supporter because he believes the project will generate jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for Overtown. ‘That one time things are moving forward in a community that has been stagnant for such a long time, we make sure we put the roadblock right in the middle of it,’ Hardemon said. ‘This is a slap in the face of the Overtown community.’
Simkins has touted the tower as the anchor to a 10-acre technology district that will help revitalize one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Hardemon, who represents the district and who is chairman of the Southeast Overtown/Park West Community Development Agency, backs the project because Simkins has agreed to pay the semi-autonomous city agency $5 million prior to construction, and $1 million, or 3 percent of gross sales generated by the project every year after completion.
Recio also said Simkins has committed to giving local preference to Overtown residents on construction jobs and for the operation of the innovation tower. In June, prior to the city commission’s first vote, Simkins’ company Innovate applied for permits to embed the LED signs within the skin of the proposed tower’s twisting façade and along its pedestal.
— Francisco Alvarado, The Real Deal, South Florida Real Estate News
