PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — For years, Pinellas County officials have been trying to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with its beach erosion control projects. Three segments of Pinellas County receive beach renourishment through the project, pumping sand on our shores that were dredged offshore.
The projects – Sand Key, Treasure Island and Long Key – are all now not moving forward.
The Sand Key portion of the project was scheduled for 2024. Treasure Island is already two years past due. Long Key, which includes Upham Beach and Pass-a-Grille Beach, had projects slated to begin in the fall of 2023.
Pinellas County Public Works Director Kelli Hammer Levy explained this is all because of a new requirement: perpetual property easements. In previous renourishments, the Army Corps didn't require homeowners to sign over access to their land in areas being renourished. Now, they are.
"They've been reliant on a 1986 law. But that 1986 law does not require perpetual public access easements," Levy said. "It's not in there. They have acknowledged that this is a policy, it's not the law."
Nonetheless, it's a policy the Army Corps is enforcing. The property easements give the Army Corps of Engineers access to a homeowners' land up to the seawall.
All of these renourishment projects are connected. Without 100 percent of the easements — none of them move forward. While renourishment might not be urgent on one beach, like Upham, without those easements, Pass-a-Grille remains without sand when it's desperately needed.
The Army Corps of Engineers answers to Congress. Pinellas County officials have sent members to the White House to advocate for beach renourishment. Congressional delegates have raised this issue. So far, none of it has made a difference in getting these projects back on schedule.
At the end of this year, the Army Corps is required to present a report on its beach erosion project to Congress. Levy said she's hopeful that the report will get this matter in front of the people who have the influence to move the project forward.
On Sunset Beach in Treasure Island, there is a 6-foot drop-off that showcases the sand erosion. It's two years past due for sand. The erosion has forced the closures of beach crossovers, exposing support beams meant to be buried deep in the sand.
"We worry about a storm or [if] something happened," Jamie Moncaleano, general manager of Taco Bus, said. "We don't know what's going to happen next."
Located just one block from Sunset Beach, Moncaleano remembers when Hurricane Irma flooded his business, forcing him and so many others to start over.
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The sand is much more than a place to catch a tan. It's home to sea turtle nests. It's a barrier when storms come barreling in.
"It's something to protect for everybody," Moncaleano said. "Not just for me, but for people living in here. This is my business. I live for this business, but I worry more about the people, the houses and all that stuff."
Now, the county is forced to look at other options. Levy is meeting with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection later this week to explore ways to help the beaches in most dire need of sand.
"[We are going] to discuss an interim project on Sunset Beach because it is so eroded to see if we can provide some interim relief while we're in the design process for right now," she said.
A full renourishment requires state and federal approval. Levy is working to learn what permitting an interim renourishment will require.
It'll take time. Time that may run out as we approach peak hurricane season.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.