Code enforcement cracks down on Inlet Beach parking

INLET BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Finding parking during peak season in South Walton can be a real pain. But the idea of making your own spot won’t be tolerated moving forward.

New no parking signs have been put in to help residents.

“Quite frankly, that popped up overnight. And there are two of those and they’re wonderful,” Inlet Beach resident Rich Jaffe said.

Jaffe said the pair of no parking signs now lined up outside his house is a huge relief.

“Those signs enable us to call the Sheriff’s Office. And then the cars hopefully will be tagged cited,” Jaffe said.

Parking has been an ongoing issue for residents in the area.

“Due to the congestion and the lack of parking spaces, we have a lot of people well visitors that will park on the public right away. They’ll block the roadway. They’ll park blocking private driveways, park in private yards,” Eric Bosko, Supervisor of the Walton County Code Compliance Parking Enforcement Unit, said.

Not only is it a nuisance, but it’s also a safety hazard.

“The north-south streets in inlet beach and quite frankly, a bunch of the east-west ones are going to look like Disney World. We will have parades of people coming down on foot, on bicycles, in golf carts,” Jaffe said. “The pedestrians can’t see what’s going on, the people moving the cars probably don’t see the pedestrians.”

Walton County created a parking enforcement unit last year in an attempt to control the problem.

“They proactively patrol the areas where we have the highest volume of complaints,” Bosko said.

And those complaints can now be filed online.

“Whether it’s beach, street side or parking, and those officers will be notified and then they’ll respond to the complaint,” Bosko said.

Complaints could end in either a warning or a fee.

“The message will slowly but surely get out,” Jaffe said.

Code compliance allows people to submit complaint forms online for both street and beach code violations. You can find those forms on the Walton County Code Compliance website.

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