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Navy Point residents press county to codify 1944 park covenant and bar structures
Summary
Residents of the Navy Point neighborhood urged the Escambia County commission to pass an ordinance protecting Navy Point Linear Park from development, citing a 1944 covenant that dedicates the land as park and bans permanent structures. County leaders said they will consult legal staff and consider options but made no ordinance vote on Oct. 2.
Residents of Navy Point told the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 2 they want the county to legally cement a 1944 covenant that dedicates Navy Point Linear Park to public use and forbids structures.
Ted Hawthorne, who identified himself as president of the Navy Point Neighborhood Watch, told the board the revised 1944 plat dedicates the peninsula as park and "No structure of any kind, nature, or character shall be placed or created on any of said park area." He asked the board to "pass an ordinance that permanently safeguards Navy Pointe Linear Park from redevelopment, encroachment, or habitat loss."
Several long‑term residents described the park as a distinctive waterfront trail — one speaker said the path offers roughly 2.25 miles of continuous shoreline walking — and voiced concern that any change in the park’s legal status could allow docks or other permanent development. Pat Page, who said she was born in Navy Point and has lived there since 1976, asked commissioners to "ensure that the park stays clear for the people to come and enjoy and the wildlife to thrive."
Residents and neighborhood leaders cited public‑record research and earlier board memoranda to argue the covenant limits the county’s ability to build permanent structures on park land. Navy Point speakers also described prior county communications on what activities would be permitted in the park and urged the board to resolve legal ambiguity with a formal ordinance.
Chair Michael S. Koehler responded at the meeting that he had heard residents' concerns and would work with legal staff. "I'll go back and work with our legal staff to see what we need to do," he said, adding in remarks captured in the public record, "It's just not gonna happen on Navy Point Park." Commissioners and staff said they would review the covenant language and return with options; no ordinance or binding vote occurred at the meeting.
Speakers asked the board to adopt a durable, recorded protective measure so future boards could not reinterpret the park dedication. Commissioners acknowledged the covenant and pledged further review but gave no specific timetable for producing ordinance language or a legal opinion.
