LISA LOGAN for Mexico Beach City Council Group 4

KNOWLEDGE / COMMUNICATION / EXPERIENCE / TRANSPARENCY

“For the good of the town, not personal agendas”

Going into 6 years after hurricane Michael, we have made great progress, but still face challenges that need our immediate and focused attention.

Below are just some of the issues we face, that have been growing since the hurricane, or since 2003, when the Forgotten Coast was “discovered” and real estate sales/development first exploded in our area. Most of these issues have not even been allowed to be discussed at the council table, although citizens have repeatedly brought them up to the council, especially post-hurricane.

• Perhaps the most important thing, is to prevent the loss of Mexico Beach as the unique community we residents have stated we want, spelling it out in our city comprehensive plan: maintain our unique, small town character by preventing overdevelopment, preserving our “Old Florida” appearance, preserving our wide-open spaces and beach, and preserving our established neighborhoods and tiny city streets, which were never designed to accommodate the amount of traffic (pedestrian, vehicular and housing) we are seeing.

We only have 3 square miles in “Old Town,” with small streets, more than 40 of which empty into Hwy 98, a busy state highway and our only main road. We cannot widen our existing streets, including Hwy 98, which is owned and controlled by the state. The new St. Joe west end development is the 4th mile within the city limits. We can only put so much into the little box that is Mexico Beach.

Our city’s VISION is clearly stated in our comprehensive plan, and was written by the citizens. We must use this plan to control the growth and preserve the town, as the citizens have clearly stated.

• Stop allowing residential to be built in commercial zoning. This has created a void for services/businesses for residents, like losing most of our services that we had 20 years ago. City officials must recognize that basic services for residents also serve tourists, making a healthy business community a win-win for all. Our fulltime residents are the backbone of our town, but have been thrust to the back of city priorities for the last 20 years. Mexico Beach is not just a “tourist destination,” it is our home, and tourists are guests in our home.

• Rebuild our business areas and return services and amenities to our citizens and tourists. We must decide what businesses we need/want in Mexico Beach, then set an aggressive plan in place to pursue those services - a community effort.

• Stop paving over wetlands/flood plains. Stop developers from filling in/covering wetlands, and stop individuals from covering more than the allowed percentage of lots with impervious materials. In just 3 square miles, every wetland/flood plain affects the entire city – nothing is isolated. We have to look at the entire town when we analyze new developments.

• Immediately create a citywide development plan covering not just proposed housing developments, but all future uses/infrastructure requirements throughout town. Then we must bring the Land Development Code up to match the development plan. We can no longer operate with isolated projects, because our tiny town is intertwined, and what is built in one area affects multiple other areas. The city has never had such a plan, which has led to properties that now create citywide logistical problems.

• We must decide how to handle our Building Department and the services it provides. Do we bring it back as a city department, or continue with a third-party operator? And figure out how to make Building Department functions align with Code Enforcement – the two departments should work in tandem, and both should be applied consistently, and equally to everyone.

• Figure out, before we allow any more new developments, how our basic city infrastructure will support the growing population/pedestrian/vehicle traffic, or how we will handle the related increase in beach parking, beach trash or fire/law enforcement needs, all requiring additional city employees/equipment. And we must pay attention to the massive increases in the same coming from the new St. Joe west end development that adds 33% of the size of “Old Town” in just one-third of the space. Plus the same coming through Mexico Beach from Gulf County, as Hwy 98 is the only road for those thousands of vehicles to use to go anywhere.

I am asking for your support to win the Group 4 seat. Contact me at beachcombernewspaper@gmail.com

(Bay County Coastal does not endorse candidates.)