Walton County TRC conditionally approves Watersound Beach request to use stabilized crushed‑shell path on Saltbox Lane

The Walton County Technical Review Committee on Nov. 19 conditionally approved an amendment to the Watersound Beach Phase 3D development order to permit a stabilized crushed-shell path (an expanded-metal grid with shell infill and edging) on a roughly 450-foot stretch of Saltbox Lane, subject to resolution of outstanding engineering and environmental comments and final director approval.

Dunlap & Shipman attorney Robert Kaufman and planner Melissa Ward presented the request (MIN25-000136) as a response to a county code-violation notice after a 2020 trip-and-claim incident. Kaufman said the HOA replaced a flush wooden boardwalk in 2021 with a Bahama rock/crust shell path after homeowners and an arborist raised tree-root concerns. Ward said the application asks only to permit an engineered version of a crushed-shell path type already allowed in the original PUD; the HOA is not seeking approval of the as-built installation, she said.

Engineers described the proposed system as a compacted subgrade topped with a stabilization grid (expanded metal) filled with crushed shell and edged to retain material; the design uses a No. 57 rock base and a mesh layer intended to limit movement while allowing root growth. John Nash, the engineer present, said the design allows maintenance in areas where tree roots shift the surface.

Several residents urged the committee to require raised boardwalks instead of a shell path, arguing the Saltbox Lane section is heavily used by pedestrians, short-term renters and people accessing the beach club. Shirley Versen, who said she compiled a petition, told the TRC she had signatures from “80% of the homeowners” on Saltbox Lane opposing the removal of the boardwalks; Sam Harper, a board member, later said the petition represented 13 household signatures (about 68% of homes) when counted by household votes. Resident testimony focused on safety for strollers and people with limited mobility, aesthetic continuity of boardwalks through the community, and whether the HOA followed covenant rules when replacing the boardwalk.

Applicant representatives and several owners on the HOA board defended the stabilized shell system as less intrusive to tree roots than raised wooden boardwalks, and said the proposed stabilized type is an allowed path under the original development order in other locations. Staff recommended conditional approval, noting the application is an amendment to the development order and that outstanding technical comments remain. The committee approved the conditional motion, with the amendment advancing after the applicant addresses outstanding engineering and environmental comments and the director’s final determination.

What happens next: the applicant must revise the narrative to clarify the exact limits of the amendment, provide engineering fixes noted by staff, and submit any outstanding exhibits (including the arborist letter) so staff and the director can complete their technical review.