Local leaders in Okaloosa County will hold a public meeting Tuesday night to discuss the construction of Sylvania Heights Stormwater Park. The project is a significant effort from Okaloosa County to address flooding issues in a neighborhood that advocates say has been "overlooked."
The Okaloosa NAACP has been an advocate for improvements in the area, which is a predominantly Black neighborhood with little to no stormwater mitigation. In January, the organization sent a report called “Gap Creek: From Neglect to Action: Confronting the Environmental Injustice of the Sylvania Heights/Lovejoy Neighborhood,” which details the history of the area and the impacts residents have faced.
Gap Creek is a small waterway that flows through the City of Fort Walton Beach and unincorporated Okaloosa County. Sylvania Heights is not the only affected neighborhood, but advocates say that not enough has been done to update stormwater infrastructure.
“For more than twenty years, the Okaloosa County Branch of the NAACP has documented these impacts, advocated for solutions, and elevated the voices of residents whose experiences have too often been overlooked,” the report said.
The report claims that the City of Fort Walton Beach has made more consistent progress to address the issue, specifically in the W.E. Combs neighborhood, which was annexed into the city in 1977.
Following the report’s release, Okaloosa County Board Chairman Trey Godwin and county staff met with the Okaloosa NAACP in February to address the issue and develop a path forward.
“I think it was the most productive meeting that we’ve had in 20 or 30 years,” said Sabu Williams, president of the Okaloosa NAACP.
RELATED: Okaloosa’s Sylvania Heights seeks environmental justice
Residents and community activists, like Barry Gray, have been calling for action for years. Gray has led tours in the neighborhood for media and elected officials to point out areas where contaminated floodwaters often collect and settle.
Gray said it’s a long time coming, but he’s glad to see that plans are in motion.
“There are good projects in the works,” he said. “And the stormwater park will be a great benefit for Sylvania Heights and Northgate residents. We still have a long way to go, but I’m really excited. We have good people at the table.”
Williams said they are talking to the City of Fort Walton Beach, as well as other entities like the Corps of Engineers, state officials, and even Eglin Air Force Base, to get everyone on board.
“It’s going to take a whole effort,” said Williams.
For its part, Okaloosa County is taking the lead to secure state-funding. The county is currently in the “agreement initiation” with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for two major legislative appropriations, said Public Information Officer Nick Tomecek. Other next steps include an inventory of the Gap Creek channel to identify any obstructions that could block drainage.
The Okaloosa NAACP will continue to be involved with project updates, Tomecek said to “ensure the path forward is transparent and that residents are involved in the design of neighborhood assets like the Stormwater Park.
Williams said these next steps show a lot of progress.
“The problem we had before was nobody was even putting money aside or even making a budget item for them (stormwater projects),” he said.
Citizens of Sylvania Heights have almost been “desensitized” to the issues of their neighborhood and have felt like they have no voice, said Williams. This is one reason why the Okaloosa NAACP is a proponent of single-member districts, instead of at-large elections. Last year, the organization approached the City of Fort Walton Beach about changing to a district-oriented council.
“Citizens right now just feel like they've been arguing for years,” he said. “It's the same. Nothing's going to change. And our job is to sort of change that mentality, because we want to get them involved.”
The proposed stormwater park — the topic of Tuesday’s meeting — will be located on 12 acres of county-owned land in the Sylvania Heights neighborhood. The completed project aims to restore wetlands to capture and slow stormwater runoff. It will also be a recreational park for the area.
Okaloosa County has other active projects along the Gap Creek waterway, including:
- Gap Creek Channel Inventory & Planning Study: A $500,000 effort funded split between a state grant matched by county surtax. The study is the first comprehensive master plan for the creek in nearly two decades, and will begin this year.
- Okaloosa County Coastal Stormwater Retrofit: This project aims to modernize aging drainage infrastructure to improve water quality and increase the volume capacity of the basin. The total program is supported by over $5 million in funding—including a $1.46 million legislative appropriation and over $3.8 million in RESTORE Act funds.
- Overbrook Drainage Project: This project is funded by the Okaloosa County Half-Cent Sales Surtax and focuses on specific localized infrastructure improvements to reduce street-level flooding and protect residential property values. The project will also slow down runoff to Gap Creek.
The Sylvania Heights Stormwater Park meeting is 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the First Community Baptist Church, 605 Lovejoy Rd.
