At Wednesday morning’s press conference in Navarre, President Daryl Lynchard of the Holley Navarre Water System Board of Directors announced for a year it will cut connection fees in half for new business. In conjunction with the HNWS board’s decision, Commissioner Rob Williamson announced he will ask the Santa Rosa County Board of CountyCommissioners to “take the next step and have a consistent, fair alcohol consumption policy for all of south Santa RosaCounty.” After the press conference, he challenged Milton City Council to make a decision rather than wait for a ballot referendum next year as the council voted Monday to do.
Beginning September 1 the HNWS will offer a 50 percent reduction in water and sewer connection fees for any new non-residential business development with a minimum of 30 full-time employees. Business developments with less than 30 employees will receive a 25 percent reduction.
This step by the HNWS has three conditions.
- First, the new business development must receive a building permit between September 1 and August 31 of next year.
- Second, the new business must be open no later than February 28 of 2017.
- Third, the business must agree to remain open no less than five years.
In his second year on the board and first year as president, Lynchard said he feels there is a misconception Navarre has exorbitantly high tap fees. He said while Navarre is higher than some and lower than others, he feels this discount will encourage business development in the Holley Navarre area. “We always want to help the community,” Lynchard said.
While HNWS will lose half of the fees on new connections, Lynchard predicted a net positive result. “We believe that with this system that we can entice businesses that would not otherwise come here to come in, paying half the fees or 75 percent of the fees, and actually help increase the system. And of course we’re looking to help the community grow, so with employee restrictions and the restrictions on how they have to stay in business for a certain period of time we believe we can recover most of those costs.”
New board member, James Calkins, said his main campaign goal was exactly this result, reducing tap fees to encourage business development. He echoed Lynchard’s comments saying right now “we’re getting nothing for an empty lot.”
Williamson said three objections he’s heard about developing business in Santa RosaCounty are “we don’t have the lunchtime crowd, or we don’t have the proper alcohol consumption policies…and tap fees are too high.”
With the water board’s fee reductions and by changing the alcohol policy in the south end of the county to meet the less restrictive one on the beach, Williamson said “we can remove two of the three objections that we’ve heard are keeping us from having the type of commercial development, and jobs and restaurants we all want to have here.”
As set forth in 1991, Santa Rosa County code Chapter 3, Article I, Section 3-1 notes the hours for the sale or purchase of alcoholic beverages in the South Santa Rosa County Tourist Development District are 7 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily on Navarre Beach, while in the TDD on the mainland, hours are 7 a.m. to 12 midnight Monday through Saturday and noon to midnight Sunday. Williamson said he’s heard the beach in the TDD has a competitive advantage to draw business because of the alcohol consumption policy there. “The core role of government is to level the playing field,” he said.
Williamson’s plan to present this suggestion during the Monday BOCC meeting comes on the heels of the City of Milton voting Monday to pursue placing a future referendum regarding Sunday alcohol sales on an upcoming ballot. Currently, Milton code, Chapter 6, Article I, Section 6-2 prohibits sale, consumption, and service of alcohol “between the hours of midnight Saturday night and 7 a.m. the following Monday morning.” The Press Gazette reported in Wednesday’s issue several restaurant owners encouraged the city council to change the code itself instead of waiting for a consensus from citizens.
Williamson said, “How long will the city wait on growth and moving into the future by continuing not to do the job (council members) were elected to do?” He said it’s good the city council is taking up this issue but believes it needs to take action. “My understanding is regardless of the outcome (of a referendum vote), the city is the decision maker…I feel like issues like the flag and alcohol require folks to step up. I’m excited to see the city take a leadership position…Santa Rosa County can’t reach its potential as a county leaving Milton behind.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Navarre water system to cut tap fees for biz