Oriole Beach, Florida

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Oriole Beach, Florida is located in Santa Rosa just to the east of Pensacola on Santa Rosa Sound.

The main access road is U.S. Route 98, which runs east-west between Pensacola and Jacksonville, Florida. The community has its roots as a beach cottage fishing retreat for the residents of Pensacola. Today, some of the original cement block beach cottages remain standing. They have survived many hurricanes.

The community became more defined as perminent residents built homes mostly along Bay Street which runs along Santa Rosa Sound. In 1985 a home owners association was founded; it facilitated the construction of many improvements, including a new boat ramp and bicycle path. Since 1985 the population has explosively increased with many new subdivisions being built along with a new firehouse and police station. The Oriole Beach Elementary school has also greatly expanded.

Today, the community remains mostly residential with a commercial strip along US 98.

Hurricane Ivan made landfall about 30 miles east of Oriole Beach in November 2004. The tidal surge was recorded at 12 feet and the sustained winds were in excess of 120 miles per hour. The entire community was leveled by the flood and winds because the houses were constructed on-grade. The Bay Street elevation of Oriole Beach is about 7.0 feet above mean sea level.

In February 2007 the Bay Street roadway was made three feet wider by the Santa Rosa County Engineering Department. New home construction is now required by the County Land Development Code to be connected to a sanity sewer force main rather then the spectic tanks that existed prior to Hurricane Ivan. The City of Gulf Breeze supplies sanitary sewer and natural gas service to the community. Potable water is supplied by a private water system.

The beach along Santa Rosa Sound is continuing to erode since Hurricane Ivan. Some water front properties have installed sea walls but they appear to be of little relief and may in fact be accelerating the beach erosion. There are no current plans to provide beach renoursment for the community. There have only been a handful of private docks rebuilt since Hurricane Ivan. This is due in part to the very limited new construction of private homes coupled with a marked increase in ad valorum taxes and insurance rates that went into effect after Hurricane Ivan.

In the time since Hurricane Ivan only about 20 houses have been rebuilt along Bay Street. The houses are constructed on pilings in accordance with the revised county land development code. The commercial strip along US 98 remained intact but economic development has become limited in the community. One major shopping plaza remains abandoned and there remain many empty storefronts in the strip shopping centers along Highway 98. An existing Wal-Mart has experienced a decrease in growth. A new Wal-mart built on higher ground located in Narvarre, Florida the next community to the east, was openned in January 2007. Three new tract subdivisions are being constructed on higher ground. Jobs in the community are mostly in the fast food service industry along Highway 98. Most of the community workforce commutes about 20 miles into Pensacola, Florida and morning and evening rush hours across the three mile long Pensacola Bay Bridge are congested. The Florida Department of Transportation has identified Highway 98 goinf through the community as a roadway to be expanded along with studies for a new Pensacola Bay Bridge.