Commissioners pause hotel review after finding scrivener’s error in Inlet Beach neighborhood plan; schedule public workshop and hearing

Walton County planning staff told commissioners they had found an apparent scrivener’s error in the Inlet Beach neighborhood plan that produced conflicting rules about “limited lodging.” The discovery came while staff was reviewing a proposed hotel project and prompted the commission to pause further project hearings until the discrepancy is resolved.

Staff explained that the neighborhood plan currently cites neighborhood commercial rules while the village mixed‑use (VMU) district language — created during a 2018 update — includes a different definition of limited lodging that allows larger facilities (an “inn” of up to 125 rooms). The effect, staff said, is that one section of the plan appears to allow significantly larger lodging than the community originally intended when the plan was drafted.

Because the matter affects both the pending development project and the plan’s consistent application across the county, the board directed staff to return with draft ordinances that preserve the original neighborhood intent and options for correcting the error. Commissioners also requested a staff‑organized public workshop to be held in Inlet Beach so residents can review proposed ordinance options ahead of a formal public hearing; the board scheduled the ordinance for consideration at a subsequent meeting after the neighborhood workshop.

Several longtime neighborhood residents spoke at the meeting, including Rich Jaffee, who said the neighborhood had pursued a 10‑room‑or‑fewer restriction in the 2018 update and that a hotel was never intended. Commissioners agreed to postpone substantive action, to hold a local workshop and to present multiple ordinance paths (including a hybrid option staff recommended) for public review and a later public hearing in South Walton.