Gulf County explores buying 2.5-acre parcel after property owner says she was told site could be used for workforce housing

Gulf County officials said at a reconvened conflict-assessment meeting that they will pursue an appraisal and may offer to buy a 2.5-acre parcel owned by Kaye Haddock to resolve a dispute over the property's annexation and land use.

The county and the City of Port St. Joe are in conflict over the parcel after the city adopted a voluntary annexation and land-use change ordinances in August. Gulf County adopted opposing resolutions and initiated a conflict assessment under state law; the county’s attorney said the county has also filed court actions challenging the annexation and its effects. "We've already filed 2 lawsuits. They're sitting in the court system. It's in a declaratory action and injunctive relief, and we also have a writ for certiorari challenging the voluntary annexation," the county attorney said during the meeting.

The dispute centers on whether the parcel—now annexed into the city and rezoned R-3—was reasonably represented to Haddock as mixed-use commercial and suitable for workforce housing when she purchased it. Haddock told commissioners she met repeatedly with county planning staff in 2022 during her due diligence and was shown maps that she said identified the site as mixed-use commercial. "I bought this property with that intent,"…