6 minute read
From the POA
Photo by Bara’ah Jaraiseh
Welcome to Rosemary Beach!
Chances are that a significant part of the attraction of Rosemary Beach to most people is the opportunity to
spend quality time outdoors. Being outside, rather than indoors, has of course had extra significance for our health during the current pandemic, but rest assured that it has always been a primary draw to our town. Whether enjoying our incomparable beach, napping on a shady porch, playing bocce in a neighborhood park, or just taking a stroll enjoying the beautiful homes and vistas, being able to spend so much time outside is rejuvenating and invigorating.
ITS IN OUR DNA
One of the foundational concepts of New Urbanism is the importance of the public realm – the streets, parks, walkways, and civic buildings that provide the framework around which private homes, apartments, and commercial buildings are organized. What does this have to do with being outside? The answer is that much of the public realm is outdoor space designed for moving about, for gathering, for lingering. Put another way—it is space designed for life, for work, and for play. Outdoor activities provide significant opportunity for improving our physical and emotional well-being, even—and perhaps especially— with the current challenges we all face.
Imagine spending an entire day outdoors, starting with a jog around the town’s 2.3 mile long Fitness Trail, then breakfast in a courtyard, perhaps catching up on a little work around a pool, have lunch outdoors on Main Street, take a trip on a bicycle to explore a neighboring community, then take in the sunset on a beach walkover before a dinner with the doors and windows open, and perhaps wrap up the evening enjoying one of our larger parks, or back on the beach to take in an incredible starry night sky. One quickly discovers that the best way to avoid sitting in traffic is to avoid sitting in a car in the first place! Here in Rosemary Beach, it is quite natural to get some fresh air and exercise the old-fashioned way, while simply going about your day.
OUR MASTERPLAN
Now that we see the general connection between walkable neighborhoods and the opportunity to integrate healthful activity into our daily lives, the value of some of the other aspects of Rosemary Beach can be understood. Our Town Center is just that—it’s in the center of town, making it a short walk from any of the surrounding neighborhoods. Two other elements that were very much considered during the design and implementation of the town’s masterplan are the locations of the four community pools—one in each quadrant, a short walk from nearby homes—and the inclusion of the Fitness Trail that winds through parks both large and small, via the network of boardwalks, with several
exercise stations that are distributed in intervals throughout the community.
Each of these elements was consciously included in the plan for the town, and it is a pattern that is often repeated at a smaller scale in the individual homes and buildings, where indoor and outdoor spaces are organized to create opportunities for more or less privacy, to enjoy particular views, and to also create a sense of connection to the outside world whether it be glimpses of the activity in Town Center, a nearby park, or the Gulf of Mexico.
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
One other feature that promotes a sense of well-being here is the use of various types of landmarks to help us navigate while on foot or on a bicycle. Whether it’s a civic building clad in bright white stucco, or the unique towers required on particular homes placed at the terminus of view corridors, these landmark elements help us create a map of the town in our memories, allowing us to find our way while exploring a new path here or there. Again, this is another defining feature of New Urbanism that was designed into the town’s masterplan from its beginning.
While contemplating the many ways that being in Rosemary Beach can promote physical and emotional well-being, don’t forget that among our civic structures are also the Fitness Center and Racquet Club! Owned by the Rosemary Beach Property Owners Association (POA), these two
Photo by Jimmy Farr
facilities are operated under lease by the Rosemary Beach Cottage Rental Company (CRC). Both facilities have recently undergone some renovations, so we hope you have a chance to visit and enjoy them soon.
PARDON OUR PROGRESS
A vibrant community is never truly finished, and Rosemary Beach is no exception. In addition to the types of projects needed to maintain a busy place, such as repaving streets and renovating parks and boardwalks, this year we are also hard at work doing some landscape restoration. We will be replacing turf at some of the town lawns, and we are pruning the Live oaks, the various types of pines, and other native trees throughout the town, as well as restoring the landscape “buffers” along parts of 30A. This work is best done in cooler weather and in advance of the spring flush of growth, to avoid stress on the plants. In some cases, we are removing trees before they excessively crowd the surrounding landscape and buildings, which allows us to in turn enhance the shape and health of the remaining adjacent trees and shrubs over the next few seasons.
In addition to these projects, you may have noticed the drainage and paving improvements nearing completion on Georgetown Avenue, just north of Town Center. The stormwater system here in Rosemary Beach does not rely on conventional pipes and large retention ponds, but instead requires that each lot handle its own stormwater from its roofs and other impervious surfaces, stored either under the house or in underground vaults or piping. The common area streets and parks rely on natural exfiltration through the pervious paving and landscaped areas. In heavy or extended periods of rain, excess run-off from individual lots and buildings can add to the run-off in the common areas, which can eventually overwhelm the soil’s capacity to absorb it.
The new inlets we are installing lead to large perforated piping underground that increases the amount of water than can be stored and then percolated into the soil. This work also includes an additional stormwater lift station that will activate in the event of extremely heavy rain or high ground water conditions, pumping excess water from Tuckers Lane to a large exfiltration bed in the northwest corner of town.
COMMUNICATION
We hope you enjoy this latest issue of the Rosemary Thymes newspaper, which has a focus on self-care and wellness. As a quarterly publication, we try to focus the Rosemary Thymes’ content on topics of longer-term interest to our owners, merchants and visitors. As a compliment to that perspective, we also send monthly newsletters to the property owners that include updates on shorter-term issues and topics. The community’s websites rosemarybeachfl.org, which is maintained by the Rosemary Beach Property Owners Association (POA), and rosemarybeach.com, which is maintained by the Cottage Rental Company (CRC), are updated regularly with notices of interest to owners and visitors. The calendars on both websites are updated continuously and are available to all users. Take a moment to check out these online resources when you have a chance.
WE ARE GLAD TO SEE YOU
We hope you are enjoying your time here, and that some of that time is spent enjoying the great outdoors with family and friends. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the Rosemary Beach Property Owners Association:
