The Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing later this month to consider repealing a vessel exclusion zone at Crab Island that has proven costly and ineffective since its establishment nearly a decade ago, according to officials.

• The public hearing, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20, will address the potential removal of the zone originally created by Ordinance 15-14 in September 2015.

The exclusion zone, measuring approximately 40 feet wide by 1,500 feet long and marked by 32 “No Boat” buoys, was initially designed to provide emergency vessels with an unobstructed corridor across the popular sandbar area.

According to Jennifer Adams, director of the Tourist Development Department, strong currents and shifting sands have rendered the zone “inefficient and unnecessary relative to its original intent.” In the agenda request, Adams noted that most local emergency vessels cannot use the corridor due to draft limitations.

• Those vessels that are capable of navigating shallow waters are also “nimble enough to move throughout the crowds,” the request stated.

The county also cited safety concerns, as private boaters who navigate the corridor occasionally create hazards when swimmers are present.

Maintenance has been another significant issue. County staff reported that several buoys are lost or damaged each year due to vessel or prop strikes, hardware failures, and environmental factors like strong winds, currents, and waves.

Despite consulting with industry experts and testing various designs, no method has proven successful. 

• For example, county staff installed an industrial shock-absorbing device designed for buoys, but this led to increased prop strike damage to the anchoring hardware due to increased scope. When they tried shortening the scope instead, it resulted in higher hardware and buoy failures from extreme forces on the buoys.

The county also explored seasonal removal of the buoys but found the costs “prohibitive long-term.” To date, expenses for installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement have exceeded $100,000.

County staff has coordinated with local law enforcement agencies, including the Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office and Florida Fish and Wildlife, as well as Destin Fire, who confirmed they do not use the zone for its intended purpose due to shallow depths and changing underwater topography.

If commissioners approve the repeal, county staff will coordinate with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Boating & Waterways group to update boating safety zone permits accordingly.