Pier tent receives ‘retroactive’ variance

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole and five other supporters of The Pier, Inc. clapped when the Zoning Board approved a retroactive variance request to keep a tent erected on The Pier Bar & Grill deck.

The request was made by Dorothy Slye, manager of the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier, to allow the tent to stay up from November through February. While the tent has been erected on the Pier deck since October, Slye didn’t submit the variance request until Dec. 19.

Zoning review board employee Leslie Statler stated the variance request was for November through February. She added that “in essence, this is a retroactive request for the existing non-compliant tent.”

When it came to the county’s attention that the tent had been erected without the appropriate permit last year, David Gibson was sent to the location and noted clearance issues.

For more on this story, see the Feb. 16 issue of Navarre Press or subscribe online.