West Bay Sector Plan - Bay County

The Optional Sector planning process was employed by the Bay County Board of County Commissioners, the local airport authority, and the St. Joe Company as a method of planning development for the approximately 75,000 acres of land north of West Bay. If the current plan comes to fruition, the Sector planning process will result in about 40,000 acres of land around West Bay being used for conservation lands (A mixture of mitigation areas for permitted development and acquisitions of other lands indicated as conservtion). In addition, the St. Joe Company has cooperated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) in developing a Regional General Permit (RGP) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in developing an Ecosystem Management Permit (EMP) for development in wetlands extending from Highway 79 westward into Walton County. If issued, these two regulatory permits will place an additional approximately 7,200 acres of land as mitigation land or preservation land in the southwestern part of Bay County.

West Bay Sector Plan

 

WestBayConsevation

Map from: "An Inventory of Conservation Easements in Bay County, Florida" Prepared by: Neil J. Lamb, Ph.D. Edwin J. Keppner, Ph.D. Co-Chair Conservation Committee and Conservation Committee Bay County Audubon Society Bay County Audubon Society For: The Bay County Audubon Society, Inc. December 2004