The Board of Directors met Monday morning to review the Walton County plans for opening our beaches and to make plans for re-opening our amenities. While the Commissioners altered the approved activities list that was originally included in their planned ordinance from the April 23rd meeting and removed sunbathing, they did vote to open Walton County beaches effective Friday, May 1st. However, the Commissioners agreed that guests may bring personal chairs and umbrellas to the beach to enjoy the activities outlined in the ordinance below.
PLEASE NOTE: At 6:21 PM this evening the Walton County Board of County Commissioners just announced there will be an emergency meeting on Thursday, April 30th at 1:00 PM to consider revising the activities allowed on the beach under Resolution 2020-35, which was adopted on April 28, 2020 and reopens the beaches in Walton County effective May 1, 2020. The outcome of this meeting may have an impact on the plans the Board of Directors have set in motion for re-opening Seacrest Beach.
We have been following the guidance of our government officials so we are announcing that the Seacrest Beach amenities will follow suit and community amenities will also re-open on Friday, May 1st. Our beach and community amenities will re-open under the following conditions:
Beach Ordinance
“Beginning on Friday, at 12:01 a.m. May 1, 2020, the beaches within Walton County, Florida will be open with the following restrictions:
- All permits for vending on the beach shall be suspended and no vending on the beach, including private beaches, shall be permitted while this Local State of Emergency remains in effect.
- All permits for beach bonfires shall be suspended. No fire permits will be issued while this Local State of Emergency remains in effect.
- All special events on the beach shall be suspended and no special events on the beach shall be permitted while this Local State of Emergency remains in effect.
- Individuals on the beach shall limit their activities to walking, jogging, fishing, swimming, paddle boarding, surfing and boating.
- Groups of more than ten (10) people are prohibited, and a minimum of six (6) foot social distancing shall apply. In addition to the action above, the WCBCC has taken action to open all County parks and the Eagle Springs Golf Course. No more than ten (10) people and a minimum of six (6) foot social distancing shall apply at all parks and the golf course.”
- We will have signage displayed at the beach walkover reminding guests to adhere to proper social distancing guidelines. We will also station a representative at the beach to manage the beach utilization.
Lagoon Pool
The Pool will re-open under modified hours from 9:00am – 7:00pm. The reduction in hours will allow our Pool Staff to perform a deep clean each evening. We have reduced the number of chairs and spaced them to accommodate proper social distancing guidelines. During the day Pool Staff will be wiping down unused chairs and will clean bathrooms every two hours. Pool Attendants will remind guests not to congregate in groups larger than 10 people and to follow the social distancing guidelines.
Seacrest Cafe’
We are still working on an opening timeline with our Concessionaire. This will depend upon the number of guests in the community and will take time for them to re-supply. Once they are open we will implement 6 foot social distancing markers along the pavers for guests to stay spaced as they wait in line to place an order.
Tram Service
Our Tram Service will also resume operations on May 1st. Guests will continue to be picked up at the Tram Stop locations, but we will limit passengers to a single household at a time. For the safety of our staff the driver’s row will remain empty. This will most likely increase the wait times for trams, but we feel this is a prudent safety measure at this time. The Dispatcher will provide an expected wait time when a guest calls the Tram Service for a pickup. Guests may decide to walk to the beach instead.
Today, at a press conference, Governor DeSantis announced the state of Florida will begin a “soft opening” on Monday the 4th of May. There was no mention either extending or eliminating the ban on short term rentals. Regardless of that outcome the Board decided to open our amenities for full time residents and visiting owners under the conditions outlined above, but if crowds become unmanageable with social distancing guidelines still in place we may implement measures to control the number of people allowed to access our amenities. We are excited to see our community opening up – but this will be a different Seacrest experience for a while. We appreciate your patience as we work through these issues.
