PLEASE... Don't Walk Between Gulf Homes

You need to put something across there so folks won't go through there. Like some barbed wire or something. Sorry for your loss, just be glad you have a place down there!

I am very thankful that so many homes have pulled through Dennis with little or no damage. Sadly, this is not the case for all of us... my home included.

We have sustained significant damage and will be closed for months as we were after Ivan. The dunes have eroded away at least 20 feet and our decks are hanging on by threads.

How Can You Help?
Please DO NOT walk between the gulf front homes to go look at the beach. Any further erosion of sand could be disastrous. When the Ramsgate public access was washed away after Ivan, many people traipsed between, under and through our homes to get to the beach. This access is gone again and there is currently NO public beach access for the western aspect of Eastern Lake Road (including Summer's Edge). I am worried that if people attempt to get to the beach through our homes, we could lose even more footing. :( Please help. Thanks.

And, as I've said in many places on this board because I think it's very important especially for guests who may seen the dunes as tempting or as a shortcut to the beach: the dunes may well be dangerous, as are the properties near the edge of the dunes. So I wouldn't go near them or let my kids go anywhere near them. I'd get myself to an open beach access and relax by the shoreline and look at the dunes from a safe distance.

The dunes are also what protect property and people from being harmed. Any damage done to a dune, however slight, simply puts more in harm's way. That slide down a dune could just as well ruin the house behind it in the next storm.

travel2much, so sorry about your home. I may come across as a "beach meanie" to many visitors in our area but I am always on "dune patrol" and asking people please not to play or walk on the dunes.

There are signs at times with the ordinance number where is it against the law to go on the dunes but many times those signs have been washed away.

Those of us that live here or have a place here understand the importance of the dunes and and their importance in restoration.

Seaturtle's home is the one seriously damaged. So sorry Seaturtle.

Travel's home most likely is ok, given the reports, (will discover tomorrow) but has a friend who suffered some bad stuff.

Hey, I get to be the beach meanie! I have a no tolerance policy for anyone who harms a dune.

I was just a visitor a few weeks ago but chased off many parents letting their children "slide down" the already failing dunes, what are they thinking!!! everyone needs to use some common sense :roll:

I was just a visitor a few weeks ago but chased off many parents letting their children "slide down" the already failing dunes, what are they thinking!!! everyone needs to use some common sense :roll:

Hurray :clap_1: Visit often. We need folk like you on the beach. Feel free to chase them off whenever you see them. Save a dune.

thank you, :wub: wish I could visit more often

Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes. 😀

My neighbors and I are holding on. We've been through Opal, Francis, Ivan and Dennis. We'll make it through this, too.

We have gotten the permission from Walton County to close that end of the street off and are in the process of tapping off between the homes. Just wanted to let folks know to please avoid this area.

If any more sand erodes, we'll be swimming and I don't have Water Wings big enough for the house!

Thanks.
Sea Turtle

Turtle,

Which one of those is yours?

Sorry SeaTurtle. :( Hope you can get through it OK.

So sorry SeaTurtle. I know your area well and have seen photos of some of the damage, which I am sure do not begin to do it justice. I guess that new walkover built after Ivan is gone. it sure looked sturdy.

I am just now going through more photos posted here and am stunned by what I see. It looks like in some places, literally feet of beach is gone. I am talking about feet from the ground up, as best I can tell from some of the pictures. It looks like layers of sand is gone. And the dunes )o:

I will still be back as soon as I can get down there. Good luck in your rebuilding.

You need to put something across there so folks won't go through there. Like some barbed wire or something. Sorry for your loss, just be glad you have a place down there!

I think you may have to upgrade to razor wire. That barbed wire is for the cows. We are talking hard headed people without any understanding of the damage they cause. Sign? What sign? Oh, no, I did not see that sign or, I just wanted to look. :twisted:

Sea Turtle - so sorry about your house.

One of biggest gripes I have with tourists is that some completely act like it is their right to slide down the dunes because they pay big bucks to stay on the beach. The dunes affect us all!!!

Thanks to all that help being a "beach meanie" - we are only trying to help in restoration. I live north of 30-A and may have beach front property in about 5 years if we can't stop this.

No matter how kindly I am to folks on the beach, SOME look at me like I'm a dog fly. :lol:

I tried to convince a local last year not to have her wedding in the dunes. I got nowhere. :roll: A disturbing trend is more and more people taking family portraits in the dunes. I've seen groups of 2 dozen climbing over them.

Do you look like a dogfly, Kurt? Sorry, left yourself open.

Basically, I think we all know that its purely ignorance about the importance of the dunes on most peoples part. They are clueless why it says "Keep off the dunes" . They are clueless that digging and leaving huge holes on the beach can endanger anything. I actually saw someone pulling up seaoats in Clearwater once.

Education, which is what you are doing here, is very important and now that theres so many people on the board, you can reach more people and they will tell others to get the $#@% of the dunes.

The only other thing I can think of is signs (lots of them) that impose a fine for walking on the dunes rather than a polite "keep off the dunes." Remember when your parents told you not to do something and you just had to do it? Does anyone know if the county has the authority to impose a fine?

Maybe an avatar that says "Please don't walk on our dunes, they protect our homes" or "they are crucial to our beach restoration" - something similar that tells them why they should keep off.

Until them, I will also continue to be a beach meanie in a friendly way.

Thanks.



Only concern is the definition of "harm to resource" - Unless I picked up an old copy of the statute, looks like they need to redefine "harm to resource"

(3) ?Harm to Resource? is an actual or potential impact, whether direct or indirect, short or long term, which is expected to occur as a result of construction.

Dont know if they could make that stick for walking on the dunes. Also, the statute states that the violation must be "knowing" or "willful". Apparently, ignorance is an excuse. Might need the politicians to look at that.

Do you look like a dogfly, Kurt? Sorry, left yourself open.

Basically, I think we all know that its purely ignorance about the importance of the dunes on most peoples part. They are clueless why it says "Keep off the dunes" . They are clueless that digging and leaving huge holes on the beach can endanger anything. I actually saw someone pulling up seaoats in Clearwater once.

.

Well, many of the signs don't even say that! They get cute by saying "These Dunes Aren't Made for Walking", (a cutsy reference to a 60's song that probably many people don't even remember. ) We need signs that say something more like:

"Do Not Walk on the Dunes. Anyone caught walking on dune will be ticketed and fined. THIS MEANS YOU!"

Put them on both sides of the walkovers, part way up the dune. Some people think it's ok to walk on the dune next to the walkover!

And while we are at it, we need: "Notice to Non-Residents: No Dogs on Beach."

Just my 2 cents.