County staff, in collaboration with commissioners, have been preparing since the park was first proposed. Following the Florida Cabinet’s approval of the acquisition, the County has worked with State counterparts on initial drafts of leases and management plans, which are still under review and not yet finalized by the Board of County Commissioners.

The County has also engaged with the Destin Mayor, City Council, and staff to exchange ideas and solicit input. This town hall is another step in that process, and there will be more opportunities ahead for public involvement.

No. The County was not involved in the negotiations, purchase agreement, or appraisals. However, the County strongly supported the State’s efforts to secure this site for a public park rather than allow the previously permitted multi‑story condominium project to move forward.

The County has also committed to making the necessary multi‑million‑dollar investments to develop the property into a first‑class public park and to operate the marina as a high‑quality recreational facility for the community.

Norriego Point is very similar in character to a beach park on the East Pass side and a sand bar to pull up your boat on the harbor side. In contrast, the new park has a 53-slip marina with full utility hookups and fire protection on the harbor side.  The majority of slips are large 40ft, 50ft and 60ft and larger for the long-term dockage of bigger boats.  On the East Pass side, the park is armored with seawalls.  The site has full utilities and has been graded and readied for more physical development with few site environmental constraints.  This park will lend itself to more parking, pavilions w/picnic tables, a building and decking with a vista, trails and have a character closer to a more active waterfront park.

Yes, the County has many different facilities within Destin as it does in the County’s eight other cities and towns.  In Destin specifically, this ranges from parks, roads, airports, and EMS facilities. At the City’s request, the County is also partnering with the City on the creation of two new beachfront parks (Crystal Beach and Tarpon Beach Park), by investing over $16 million of County funds and giving the City those park properties.  The County has also taken the lead to develop these new parks with design and permitting, and the construction of the parks.   

While not often mentioned, the County spends millions each year to remove trash from all the beaches, rake the beach, conduct sea turtle patrols, provide 1st responder emergency radio services, as well as East Pass dredging and does beach renourishment projects within the City.  The County also spends millions to directly fund lifeguards, EMS, and law enforcement on all the beaches in Destin, and on Crab Island, and gives the City over $1.5M per year of tourism dollars to the City Destin, of which $750,000 per year is spent on maintenance of the Harborwalk and many of the City-owned waterfront parks.  The County is also partnering with the City on funding the dredging of the Harbor ($400K) and the partial funding of the Cross-Town Connector Road project ($3.3M).

The County deeded this property to the City in 2010.  The parcel has generally been an undeveloped park area for years. Recently, the FDEP in partnership with the City, spent millions adding bathrooms, parking, and dune walkovers to make it a beautiful, minimally developed park. 

The County.  Why the County?  The County was a strong proponent of the acquisition throughout the process of the state’s purchase of the property and early on was able to pledge millions in funding and other resources as a strategic partner.  With regard to the Marina, the County is also well-suited to operate something like this as the County runs airports, jails, utilities, major road projects, EMS, and many other complex operations and vendor situations when compared to other local governments. Although we don’t know the exact reason(s), the cabinet approved the purchase with the following language:

From the September 30, 2025, Cabinet approval: "The subject property will be managed as a new park by Okaloosa County in collaboration with the City of Destin's Norriego Point Beach Access and Park.  Okaloosa County will organize the management, maintenance, and operation of the subject property and will oversee all aspects of the new park, including capital projects, construction, procurement, insurance, staffing, utilities, and rule enforcement. In accordance with Chapter 259 F.S., Okaloosa County will implement best management practices to support the conservation and public access principles of the park."

The management plan with the State of Florida is a very thorough process that creates a 10-year timeframe document that essentially requires all proposed activities/improvements to be included.  The County may ultimately implement some and not others over time based on the experience in that park, but is encouraged to list everything it may do during this period as changes are difficult. The County can also specifically exclude activities, for example, it is not proposed to provide fuel sales in this 10-year horizon.  Each park is different and has its own character or functions, having a broader list, would provide some flexibility as we work out the operations of this new park.  

No.  The State of Florida paid a purchase price with a portion of value derived based on this new marina. The marina is a great public asset that materially adds to the public access and use of the park. At a cost of over $5 Million to construct it would be a tremendous waste of public funds to tear down the marina.  

The County is planning on running the marina with County staff.  The County operates a number of venues, events, campground areas, and other more robust park activities and government operations than any of the cities do. If the County were to later choose to hire a vendor to manage the marina the County will follow its competitive, public procurement process to seek a professional vendor. However, the County would still operate the park and oversee any marina vendor selected.

The County would likely operate the marina like other public marinas around the state and provide for short-term recreational stays much like a land-based campground.  It is expected that many people staying in Holiday Isle vacation rentals and in other areas who would like to bring their boat on vacation would rent a slip at the same time.  Because of the slip size, the marina can accommodate larger, higher-end boats at these slips.  Similar to an airport FBO or a campground, the County would also seek to provide amenities to serve these marina patrons.   

No and Yes - The County does not generally allow commercial activity at its parks. The County does allow only limited activity, temporarily through special permits or more ongoing through procured vendors at some of its parks.  The County does this primarily to enhance the public experience at its parks and to offset the costs to operate and maintain the park facilities, thereby saving taxpayers money.

Yes, as currently proposed, the County expects from time to time to have things like food trucks, caterers for events, vendors for weddings, picnics, photographers, and sandcastle vendors, and could have festival or special events on occasion.

Aside from the marina, the County on a more regular basis, may have a small concession stand on the first floor with packaged items to support the marina guests, and visitors to the new park and Norriego Point Park. Although this has not been fully resolved, this may be prepacked things like soda, bottled water, ice, ice cream, chips, candy, milk, sunscreen, hats, minor boat needs and similar items that people often forget that is typically brought to a park or the beach or on the boat.  This would have limited hours and we would suggest a walk-up window that would be operated by the County staff or a separate vendor.  The County has a similar concession in Beasley Park.

On the upper floor, the County may have a large deck where people may wish to watch the harbor, the East Pass, or the gulf and/or sunsets and sunrises. A snack bar would be proposed for this area where prepackaged items would be sold, but the next concession stand items above, like coffee, hot chocolate, fountain drinks, beer and wine, hot dogs, hamburgers, and other microwavable, easy prep, or pre-prepped items from our area.  If an event is on the upper deck and catered by a local restaurant, this area would be closed.

If you combined the two concepts together, you would have a typical concession stand similar to a little league baseball field or high school football game, except for the potential beer/wine.  

The State of Florida has chosen to make a major investment in recreation in our County through this acquisition.  We owe it to those in Tallahassee who stood up for us and to the taxpayers of this State to implement this investment as quickly as possible for the public. Every year, the County handles hundreds of millions of dollars in capital projects and prides itself on efficiently completing projects. Not rushing, but focused on the purpose of completing public projects.

No

No, a restaurant would be too intense of a development for the site and overwhelm the park, require too much parking, and not be as compatible with neighboring property or as open to the public as a park. However, the County does hope to have some limited vending at the park, similar to what it does at some of its other parks or what someone might find at little league field concession stand.