Beach Nourishment Opposition Lawsuit

[jodiFL]

Why should taxpayer money be used to shore up someones home that was built on the LEAST sturdy material known to man?? You build on the shore you are taking an inherent risk that should be your (and yours alone) responsibility. It not like you didnt know that hurricanes exist and WILL take away that beach in any given year, sometimes 3 or 4 times in a year. I wouldnt build on the side of a mountain that was prone to mudslides and then expect my neighbors to pay to shore up the mountain when it started raining every spring just because I wanted that view no matter what. And yes AndyA.. I do what I have to do to protect my backyard but I am not asking for a government bailout to do it. If my yard floods and I need more dirt I go buy it. I think we should be more like some of the towns along the east coast ...sure you can build but if Mother Nature takes it away it just GONE. And you arent allowed to create a new beach to put it on.

 

[poppy]

Taxpayer money isn't being used to shore up homes, it's being used to shore up the shore and why shouldn't it? In my opinion the beach is as much a part of our infrastructure as roads and bridges are. Without the beach everything we have will cease to exist. It is what draws the tourists and the economy here is driven by tourism. This is our home and protecting it collectively is what we should do as a community. If renourishment of the beach is part of that process then so be it. Many people complained about rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina, I was not one of them. New Orleans is a national treasure and so is the Emerald Coast. People like Huckabee and the Alford's are being selfish. If a storm takes their homes they can collect the insurance and rebuild somewhere else because they are not vested here like the full time residents are. I believe AndyA is making the best argument on this subject and seems, in my opinion, to be the most knowledgable. Now that I have publicly agreed with Andy I realize I must be insane so I'm am going to log out now and take my temperature while flipping through WebMD to find clues to it's cause.

 

[steel1man]

When the government says they will take care of anything for the next 50 years, I feel that is something to always be wary of. And question, why won't they allow beachfront owners to renew their beach with their own money and specific guidelines? Especially if this is about renourishment and not tourism.

can you imagine a beach with few hundred feet of renourished beach going out 200' from dune and the one naysayer with a beach 20-30' from the dune line to the water as it is now..#Think

 

[jodiFL]

Can you imagine a beach with brownish sand full of sharp pieces of shell? That gets so hot you have to wear shoes to walk to the water? I just dont think they can renourish the beaches with the same quality of sand that we have now. And when we lose that we will lose the tourists anyway. What about when they start dredging up the remnants of Deepwater Horizon and pump a bunch of tarballs laced with Corexit along with that brown sand and shells? Who will be responsible for the clean up? BP wont do it since we are the ones that pumped it up onshore. There are just too many bad scenarios they havent spoke about that could be the downfall of our 17 miles of beach.

 

[Andy A]

It isn't often poppy and I agree but we do on occasion. Thank you, poppy. This is one of them. And jodiFL, you are full of it! You, and those promoting the non-matching sand are spreading faisehoods. The sand color to be used in the restoration process was tested and determined to be suitable over six years ago. Not only that, but if you really want to see what restoration will look like, go up the the Hilton and walk out on their renourish beach and then tell me it will be full of tarballs, brown sand and shells. I hate it when people spread crap to promote a false point of view and that is exactly what is happening with the falsehoods being broadcast in news media. Come on, Brad, I realize they chased you off but tell them what you told so many of us years ago. I am sick and tired of some not in favor of beach restoration deliberately lieing to the public. The results of beach restoration are already here for all to see in Western Walton County! Shut up and go look!

 

[jodiFL]

And just when did the oil spill occur? Oh yea that would be 5 years ago.. after Sandestins renourishment..after the color tests were done....how can any of you be sure they wont dredge up oil? Let them dredge up a couple of truck loads NOW and see how it matches. Alot can change in 6-8 years. And a point of view cant be true OR false because it is just that ..A POINT OF VIEW. Heres a thought.. volunteer YOUR property for the test sand to be pumped on FIRST..

 

[steel1man]

Can you imagine a beach with brownish sand full of sharp pieces of shell? That gets so hot you have to wear shoes to walk to the water? I just dont think they can renourish the beaches with the same quality of sand that we have now. And when we lose that we will lose the tourists anyway. What about when they start dredging up the remnants of Deepwater Horizon and pump a bunch of tarballs laced with Corexit along with that brown sand and shells? Who will be responsible for the clean up? BP wont do it since we are the ones that pumped it up onshore. There are just too many bad scenarios they havent spoke about that could be the downfall of our 17 miles of beach.

BS

 

[poppy]

For the record. I do own beachfront property, lots of it, it's known as the public beaches.

 

[Misty]

Interesting article on rising sea levels in Florida...

Sea rise threatens Florida coast, but no statewide plan
http://news.yahoo.com/sea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-no-statewide-plan-151756531.html

 

[Mike Jones]

The plaintiff has a website:

http://waltonbeachnourishment.com



And have bought "Dr. Beach's" report...

National Expert “Dr. Beach” to Oppose Beach Nourishment Project at Walton County Commission Meeting

Recently Released Report Calls Proposed Beach Nourishment Project "Harmful" and "Misguided" ~

Nationally recognized beach expert Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, widely known as “Dr. Beach,” will speak at Tuesday's Walton County Commission Meeting in opposition to the proposed beach nourishment project. Dr. Leatherman, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, recently issued a report highlighting the potential risks of the proposed beach nourishment project in Walton County.

The beach nourishment project is similar to the previous project done on the west end of Walton and in Destin. That project also met with opposition, though several property owners said they were appreciative of the project after a storm.

Chief among Dr. Leatherman’s concerns was the issue of the quality of the sand to be introduced onto the shore as part of the beach nourishment project. The concerns match those of some of the beach property owners. Some of these owners also complain that the county is taking their property by expanding the beach through public paid for sand.

The report says, according to a report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, more than 99 percent of the sand to be utilized for this project is darker than the existing beach sand. Additionally, the borrowed sand contains more than 10 times the shell content of what is already on the magnificent sugar-white beach. At the recent Commissioner meeting, the Walton staff did not directly respond to the sand quality and color when the matter was brought up by some property owners. In the past project the offshore borrow pit had sand that met the requirements.