Fun Festivals and Events

Central Florida

Sept 22-Oct 29 (select nights)
The Haunt At Old Town, Kissimmee
Oct 1
DeLand Indie Market, DeLand
Oct 5-8
Bicycle Festival, Mount Dora
Oct 6-Nov
4 (select nights)
A Petrified Forest, Altamonte Springs
Oct 6-8
Rock, Mineral, Gem and Jewelry Show, Orlando
Oct 6-8
Daytona Blues Festival, Daytona Beach
Oct 7
First Saturday Jam and Farm Swap, Barberville
Oct 7,Oct 28
Oktoberfest, Casselberry
Oct 6
Jazz Friday at Foosaner Museum of Art, Melbourne
Oct 13-15
Oktoberfest Tampa, Tampa
Oct 13-29 (every weekend only)
Pumpkin Festival, Bradenton
Oct 13-15
BBQ and Blues Festival, Clermont
Oct 14
Come Out With Pride Festival, Orlando
Oct 14
Rocky Water Brew Fest, Melbourne
Oct 14
Oktoberfest on the Beach, Indian Rocks Beach
Oct 14-15
Winter Park Autumn Art Festival, Winter Park
Oct 15
Space Coast VW Fest, Satellite Beach
Oct 18-21
Ringling International Arts Festival, Sarasota
Oct 19-22
Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Clearwater
Oct 19-22
Biketoberfest, Daytona Beach
Oct 20-22
Upper Tampa Bay Oktoberfest, Oldsmar
Oct 21-22
Fall Art & Craft Fair, Cocoa
Oct 22
Florida Harmonica Championships, New Smyrna Beach
Oct 22
Festival Calle Orange, Orlando
Oct 26-29
John’s Pass Seafood Festival, Madeira Beach
Oct 28
Tampa Pig Jig, Tampa
Oct 28-30
Manasota Pumpkin Festival, Bradenton
Oct 28-29
Mount Dora Craft Fair, Mount Dora

South Florida

Oct 4-6
West Palm Beach Antiques Festival, West Palm Beach
Oct 5-8
Bird Festival, Coral Gables
Oct 6-8
Pirate Festival, Fort Myers Beach
Oct 6-8
Oktoberfest, Port St Lucie
Oct 6-10
Italian Film Festival, Miami
Oct 7
Harvest Fest, Jupiter
Oct 8-9
Beach Town Music Festival, Vero Beach
Oct 8
Miami Carnival Parade and Festival, Miami
Oct 18-22
Humphrey Bogart Film Festival, Key Largo
Oct 21
Lantern Festival, Delray Beach
Oct 21
Mercato Brew-Ha-Ha Craft Beer Festival, Naples
Oct 20-22, 27-29
Oktoberfest, Cape Coral
Oct 21-22
18th Annual Downtown Stuart Craft Festival, Stuart
Oct 21-22
Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch Festival, Coconut Grove
Oct 23
Heroes and Villains 5K, Key West
Oct 27-29
Stone Crab Festival, Naples
Oct 28
9th Annual Palm City Fall Fest, Palm City 

North Florida

Sept 29-Oct 1
Pensacola Seafood Festival, Pensacola
Oct 1
North Central Florida Peanut Festival, Williston
Oct 2-Oct 8
St Augustine Restaurant Week, St Augustine
Oct 7
Founding of the Castillo, St Augustine
Oct 6
First Friday Artwalk, Ocala
Oct 6-7
Florida Scallop and Music Festival, Port St Joe
Oct 6-8
Destin Seafood Festival, Destin
Oct 6-8
Pirates of the High Seas Fest, Panama City Beach
Oct 7
Flora-Bama’s Oktoberfest, Pensacola
Oct 7
Ocala Cultural Festival, Ocala
Oct 7-8
Creekside Festival, Palm Coast
Oct 7-29
Corn Maze at Sykes & Cooper Farm, Elkton
Oct 8
ButterflyFest, Gainesville
Oct 8-15
Amelia Island Jazz Festival, Fernandina Beach
Oct 13-15
Greek Festival, St Augustine
Oct 14
Artrageous Artwalk, Amelia Island
Oct 14
Family Pumpkin Festival, White Springs
Oct 14-15
58th Pensacola Greek Festival, Pensacola
Oct 20-22
Suwannee River Quilt Show and Sale, White Springs
Oct 21
13th Annual Florida Bat Festival, Gainesville
Oct 25-29
Thunder Beach Autumn Rally, Panama City Beach
Oct 27
Ocala Pumpkin Run Car Show & Festival, Ocala
Oct 27-28
4th Annual Tallahassee Extreme Rodeo, Tallahassee
Oct 28
First Coast Arts & Crafts Fall Show, St Augustine
Oct 28-Oct 29
22nd Annual Festival of the Arts, Destin
 

For many more events and details please visit the Orlando Times Travel Calendar here

Photo:The Defuniak Herald

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

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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…

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

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