Important meeting regarding seawalls Monday, March 13
March 13th, Monday, 5 pm at the South Walton Courthouse Annex.
The public is invited.
County Sponsoring a Community Workshop on the Beaches.
(Please note this meeting was originally scheduled for March 21st. It has been moved to the 13th).
in attendance:
County staff
Florida Department of Environmental Regulation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Issues include the Incidental Take Permits, use of public tax money for
private seawalls, and private intrusion on public beach property.
# 1 Issue: Should Taxpayer Money Be Used to bring Private Seawalls into compliance with Federal law?
Who will pay for the incidental take permits and conservation plan that U.S. Fish & Wildlife is requiring for 158 of the seawalls that would otherwise be in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Should tax money be used to help pay for seawalls which are only intended to protect private property?
Seawalls do not protect the beach.
To the contrary, documents published by both U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the DEP indicate that coastal armoring ?can result in accelerated erosion seaward of the hardened structure and adjacent to the structure, especially on the downdraft side (end scour)?*
# 2 Issue: Should the County Approve Seawalls Constructed on the Public Beach which can contribute to beach erosion and interfere with public use?
A representative for 10 property owners in the Seagrove Beach area has acknowledged that their seawalls were ?inadvertently? built seaward of their gulf front property line. *In other words, their seawalls are on public property, anywhere from 28? to 40? beyond their property line. Most of the walls are already finished and covered with sand.
*The ?DEP Report for the Governor?s Coastal High Hazard Study Commission? states on page 3, ?Armoring protects upland structures but it has the adverse effect of increasing the erosion in front of the armoring structures and adjacent properties as the system becomes sand starved? Dec. 2005.
March 13th, Monday, 5 pm at the South Walton Courthouse Annex.
The public is invited.
County Sponsoring a Community Workshop on the Beaches.
(Please note this meeting was originally scheduled for March 21st. It has been moved to the 13th).
in attendance:
County staff
Florida Department of Environmental Regulation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Issues include the Incidental Take Permits, use of public tax money for
private seawalls, and private intrusion on public beach property.
# 1 Issue: Should Taxpayer Money Be Used to bring Private Seawalls into compliance with Federal law?
Who will pay for the incidental take permits and conservation plan that U.S. Fish & Wildlife is requiring for 158 of the seawalls that would otherwise be in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Should tax money be used to help pay for seawalls which are only intended to protect private property?
Seawalls do not protect the beach.
To the contrary, documents published by both U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the DEP indicate that coastal armoring ?can result in accelerated erosion seaward of the hardened structure and adjacent to the structure, especially on the downdraft side (end scour)?*
# 2 Issue: Should the County Approve Seawalls Constructed on the Public Beach which can contribute to beach erosion and interfere with public use?
A representative for 10 property owners in the Seagrove Beach area has acknowledged that their seawalls were ?inadvertently? built seaward of their gulf front property line. *In other words, their seawalls are on public property, anywhere from 28? to 40? beyond their property line. Most of the walls are already finished and covered with sand.
*The ?DEP Report for the Governor?s Coastal High Hazard Study Commission? states on page 3, ?Armoring protects upland structures but it has the adverse effect of increasing the erosion in front of the armoring structures and adjacent properties as the system becomes sand starved? Dec. 2005.
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