Pinellas County has a sand problem. Things don’t stay in the right place. Storms and thyme strips it from our beaches, making our homes, businesses and communities vulnerable to flooding and erosion.
It costs money to restore the sand. This week, when the Pinellas County Commission agreed to spend $125 million to revive the beach along Sand Key, Long Key Up Ham Beach and Treasure Island, we got another memory.
The kickers are: Even with a price tag that will stop you from your mind, the project has obvious flaws. County staff are aware of this, as are county commissioners who voted unanimously in favor of the project. They have plans to mitigate defects, but there is no guarantee.
First, you need the necessary history.
For decades, the Army Corps of Engineers worked with the county to bring the sand back to the beach. The legion paid more than 60% of the cost, and the county covered the rest. The agency only needed temporary access to people’s coastline property while the restoration was underway. For the most part, everything went smoothly.
Three years ago, the Legion announced that it would not recover the sand without all beachfront owners. Controversy continued, including complaints about property rights violations and government land hands. In some cases, easements would have included pools, decks and land under driveways, Kathleen Peters County said at this week’s meeting.
It’s difficult to get everyone in a large group to agree that the Earth is round. They cannot convince them to give up their property rights forever. The army’s claims were unreasonable. No one should have been surprised that the requirement had turned into a poison. Many property owners said, “All!” The beach renourish has stagnated.
Perhaps we shouldn’t build that much on these coastal islands. They are called “barriers” for reasons. But we did, and now people live, work and play on the coastline. This activity will help drive the county’s economy. For now, protecting these investments includes restoring the sand to the beach.
So, to their credit, county officials began working on a more attractive plan. They determined that the property owner would only grant construction easements. The agreement gives you temporary access to restore sand near each owner’s property. Commissioner Dave Eggers described the process as a “friendly temporary easement.”
The defects are: More than 130 property owners along the sand keys, as well as the sun and Upham beaches are not given easements. Without them, contractors hired by the county will not have access to their property to recover the sand. A few years ago, the corps said the sand gaps would weaken the barrier, and county officials reflected concerns this week. It’s like building a wet castle, but leaving the drawbridge behind.
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Even some owners who grant access to their land will not obtain a complete sand barrier if they live next to someone they are not, officials said. In other words, the decision by the property owner to not sign a temporary easement for the county could put the property of the neighbor at risk. Can we build a fence high enough to distract such neighbors from tension?
But hope has not been lost.
The county is planning information blitzkrieg to help shake up some of the holdouts. Officials have already scheduled three town meetings to explain the importance of restoring sand and how the county’s latest plans differ from the impossible requirements of the corps.
County manager Barry Burton said some property owners remained cautious after feeling blind by the legion’s permanent access rules. Others do not realize that new plans require only temporary access.
“This is not a legion’s project,” he said. “This is our project. It’s not a requirement for the same easement. Hopefully some people will be involved. Here’s the opportunity to build this right and give them the level of protection that most people would want.”
Burton is right, but he and the county need to convince him to hold out as many times as possible. As for holdouts, the stubbornness of the legion justly disgusted some of them. Still, they should give a fair review of the county’s new plans.
Hurricanes don’t care about our feelings, our laws, or other human concepts. All the gaps in the sand leave a way for the next storm to do more damage. Mother Nature has a long history of exploiting weaknesses.
