Destin City Council approves budget items, insurance change, project contracts, and first-reading land-use ordinances

(Matters not specifically listed on the agenda may be added and acted upon with a super-majority vote of the Council members present and eligible to vote on the matter)

Per the Destin Committee Handbook, the Public Works/Safety (PW/S) Committee is required to submit the Annual report and Work plan to City Council for approval. City Council reviewed the Committees roles early this year with most Council members selecting committee appointments in February, this year. The Committee has worked to provide the presentation of the 2024 Annual report and 2025 Work plan. See attached. | attachments=1 | reports=1

(Note: Individual speakers will be limited to 3 minutes. At the discretion of the mayor, this 3 minute allowance may be adjusted depending on the level of business coming before the City Council)

The City requested BOCC/TDD approval of the City of Destin’s FY25 municipal expenditure plan for Pickleball Courts in an amount NTE $300,000 from tourist development funds. | attachments=5 | reports=1

The Florida Department of Revenue has made it explicitly clear that budget public hearings cannot be held before Wednesday, September 3, 2025. This is the first permissible date for such hearings this year. However, the city council recently adopted Tuesday, September 2nd as the date for our first budget hearing. Since that date falls outside the allowed timeframe, it must be rescheduled. | reports=1

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Announcements

Over the past few years, the City of Destin has seen a steady increase in employee health insurance costs. For the upcoming plan year (09/01/2025–08/31/2026), renewal rates indicate a projected cost increase of approximately 13.9%, translating into an additional $199,427 if no changes are made. In response to this financial trend, staff and Acentria have explored innovative solutions to maintain a high quality of benefits for employees while controlling long-term costs. One such strategy is the adoption of the Difference Card, a health reimbursement platform that aligns employer savings with employee benefit continuity. | attachments=2 | reports=1

On April 7th, Council directed staff to explore the possibility of installing cameras at Captain Royal Melvin Park to enforce against illegal livery vessel pickup and drop-off at the docks. | attachments=3 | reports=1

On April 21, 2025 the Council approved the advertisement of RFQ 25-06-CD CEI Crosstown Connector. | attachments=9 | reports=1

On April 21, 2025 the Council approved the advertisement of RFB 25-07-CM Crosstown Connector Phase 1 Construction. | attachments=5 | reports=1

The City of Destin, Florida, is seeking funding through the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Program for Implementation grant funding to design and construct a pedestrian underpass at the intersection of US 98 and Stahlman Avenue. This critical infrastructure project aims to provide a safe crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, directly addressing a key safety concern identified in the Safety Action Plan (SAP) adopted by the Emerald Coast Regional Council in December 2024. This intersection was specifically highlighted in the SAP due to its high risk for pedestrian and bicycle accidents. This project will also seek to address congestion issues along US 98 in this area, which is currently exacerbated by the heavy presence of people accessing destinations by walking and biking in the vicinity. The Okaloosa-Walton Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) has placed a high priority on improvements to US 98 between Calhoun Avenue and Airport Road, currently ranked fifth on the Strategic Intermodal Systems (SIS) project priority list. The estimated cost of designing and constructing a Stahlman Pedestrian Underpass Project is $20,000,000 and the latest FDOT 5-year work program has not budgeted any funding. SS4A grants require a 20% local match and the County and City, through an Interlocal Agreement (ILA), would agree to split the local match for the estimated $20,000,000 project cost for a Stahlman Pedestrian Underpass Project. The US 98 and Stahlman Avenue Intersection Improvements project is on the Original Surtax Needs List with a placeholder cost of $3,000,000. If the SS4A grant is awarded to the City of Destin, the County would agree to fund 90% of the project local match amounting to $3,600,000, and the City would fund 10% of the project local match amounting to $400,000. Funds would be provided at the time of grant award to the City of Destin. The County Infrastructure Surtax Advisory Committee recommended allocation of Surtax Reserves in the amount of $3,600,000 for the County's portion of the local match at their May 27, 2025 meeting. The BOCC approved the ILA at their June 10th meeting. | attachments=1 | reports=1

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The subject property consists of three (3) lots, totaling approximately 8.53 acres. The lots currently have a FLUM designation of Medium Density Residential – Village (MDR-V). The property owner (the City) is proposing to construct a vehicular roadway on the property, which has already been approved by City Council, with the associated plat recorded. This roadway will serve as the final segment of the Destin Crosstown Connector, an east-west corridor. Therefore, the City is proposing to revise the FLUM designation from MDR-V to Recreation (REC). | attachments=22 | reports=1

The subject property consists of three (3) lots, totaling approximately 8.53 acres. The lots currently have a zoning designation of Medium Density Residential – Village (MDR-V). The property owner (the City) is proposing to construct a vehicular roadway on the property, which has already been approved by City Council, with the associated plat recorded. This roadway will serve as the final segment of the Destin Crosstown Connector, an east-west corridor. Therefore, the City is proposing to rezone the subject properties from MDR-V to Recreation (REC). | attachments=22 | reports=1

Article 20.06.00 of the Land Development Code (LDC) – Unsafe Building Abatement was adopted in 2015 and was modeled from the 1985 Standard Unsafe Building Abatement Code . Staff finds that these regulations do not fully capture all elements of public health, safety, welfare and the preservation of neighborhoods, as they apply only to structures and do not address a property's general site conditions. Due to the limits of these regulations, the City's Code Compliance efforts are limited. Therefore, staff is seeking to expand the regulations to include the property as a whole, including exterior elements (yard). | attachments=2 | reports=1

Currently, per the City’s Land Development Code (LDC) Section 7.12.08 , Table 7-3: Schedule of Dimensional Requirements in Zoning Districts, townhomes (multi-family development) are required to provide a rear setback of 10’ for any portion of a building having a height of 35 feet or less if the property does not front the harbor, bay, or gulf. The language reads as follows – For lots fronting the harbor: Zero feet. For lots fronting the Choctawhatchee Bay: rear setback must meet the requirements set forth in section 11.01.10 Bay shoreline protection zone. For lots fronting the gulf the rear setback will be established by DEP. For all lots that do not front the harbor, bay or the gulf, but instead have a rear property line, ten feet for any portion of a building having a height of 35 feet or less. Fifteen feet for any portion of a building having a height above 35 feet but below 50 feet. For each ten feet or fraction thereof exceeding 50 feet in height, the rear setback shall be increased by two feet on each side. | attachments=2 | reports=1

Claude Perry Enterprises, LLC & Marler Harbor Property, LLC are requesting approval for a Minor Development Order (DEV-001609-2025) for an existing marina located at 288D & 302 Harbor Blvd. This application does not involve marine construction, but rather a request for reclassification of the existing slip designations. The current marina and slip designations were approved by City Council on January 7, 2019, allowing for 18 commercial slips, 21 transient slips, and 1 water taxi slip. This Minor Development Order proposes adjusting these designations to accommodate 29 commercial slips, 6 transient slips, 1 water taxi slip, and 6 fueling slips. The details of these proposed changes are outlined in Table 1 below. SLIP DESIGNATION EXISITNG PROPOSED Commercial 18 29 Transient 21 6 Water Taxi 1 1 Fueling 0 6 TOTAL 40 42 Table 1 – Existing and proposed slip uses. Per Land Development Code (LDC) Section 11.05.01.N , “ No dock shall be constructed or modified such that slip density exceeds one slip per eight linear feet of waterfront footage. ” The marina has 260 feet of waterfront, which equates to 32.5 slips. At the time of City Council Approval on January 7, 2019, Section 11.05.09.B.5 of the LDC allowed for an exception to the maximum slip density based on the linear feet of waterfront for properties located in the South Harbor Mixed Use Zoning District under Tier 1 or Tier 2 Development Standards if the following Criteria were met: An approved submerged land lease from FDEP is submitted. An approval from the Army Corps of Engineers stating that the length of the docks and pilings will not create a risk to navigation is submitted. This provision only applies to properties with only non-residential Uses and mixed uses that contain non-residential uses and short-term residential uses. This provision does not apply to developments that contain long-term residential uses. A minimum of ten percent of the total number of slips in the project are set aside for fare carrying boats and another minimum ten percent of the total slips are set aside for transient boats that are open to the public (to promote non-automobile travel). “Project” used herein shall mean the entire number slips tied to the uplands and not the total number slips past 200 feet from the uplands. A minimum of 50 percent of the transient slips must be reserved for no-rental users. The remainder of the total ten percent may be reserved for the short-term rental users. A loading and unloading area must be reserved for use by the water taxi. The Applicant failed to meet the 5th criteria with respect to fare carrying vessel minimums. The LDC defines a fare-carrying vessel as “ Vessels used for the following activities that are available to the public for hire: party, fishing, sightseeing (e.g. dolphin, sunset, dinner cruises, etc.), sailing, parasailing and diving/snorkeling. Fare carrying vessels shall not include pontoon or runabout boats or personal watercraft. ” The applicant was required to set aside 10% of the total slips for fare carrying vessels, but only set aside 5 % of the slips for fare carrying vessels. On January 7, 2019, the applicant offered to provide a public benefit of 21 transient slips in order to increase the allowable slip density from 32.5 to 40. The Council accepted this offer and approved the application on that basis. Note: Section 11.05.09.B.5 of the LDC has since been removed and the exemption is no longer permissible by code per Ordinance No. 20-02-LC, which was passed by the City Council on February 18, 2020. | attachments=18 | reports=1

(Comments from the public on any matters considered at the meeting, or on any matters not on the agenda)