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A Frontline in the Sand Against Erosion

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 3--Mother Nature -- in the form of two Category 3 hurricanes and two tropical storms in 10 months -- has taken a jagged bite out of the beaches along Destin and South Walton County.

Many homes and businesses close to the Gulf of Mexico are perched dangerously near water that laps farther upland with every passing storm.

But beach restoration proposed years ago when miles of beach were first declared critically eroded still hasn't begun, a result of legal fighting.

"Our only salvation is beach restoration," said Peggy Criser, who lost her home in Miramar Beach when Hurricane Dennis hit July 10. "As the storm started spinning toward us, it was like watching the Grim Reaper in the distance. We knew we were doomed."

Criser bought her home 19 years ago when it was a wood-shingled structure and remodeled the gulf-front house, adding furnishings from her travels. It was listed on the market for $2.3 million before Dennis, but now all that remains of her home is a pile of wood and rubble scattered on the sand.

"I'm sitting here itemizing my life over the last 20 years to turn into the insurance company," she said. "It is a sobering thing for anyone to go through to say the least."

Hurricane Dennis washed away $12 million of sand and vegetation and damaged $11 million of property in Destin, according to early estimates from the city and Okaloosa County.

Extreme winds and crashing waves from the summer storm also displaced as much as two million cubic yards of sand in Walton County. Officials estimate it could cost $25 a cubic yard to replace it.

"There will continue to be significant home damage if no longterm solution is made," said Colleen Castille, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Futile attempts to restore

The DEP has issued emergency beach scraping permits to build sand berms for Destin and Walton County, but Castille called that measure a "Band-Aid" approach.

Destin and Walton County entered into a joint partnership in 1999 when a restoration feasibility study was ordered and funding was soon made available to extend area beaches 80 to 100 feet across two miles of beach in the city and 4.5 miles in the county.

Soon after the planning phase ended, a small group of beachfront property owners legally challenged the constitutionality of the project.

An administrative judge in Walton County sided in favor of the restoration project in late June. But a circuit judge in Leon County issued a statement on July 20 citing that there was not enough evidence from either side to issue a summary judgment in the case.

The case could now move to a formal trial if the plaintiffs choose to pursue one. D. Kent Safriet, a Tallahassee attorney representing the restoration opponents, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Plaintiffs in the case continue to oppose restoration. Meanwhile, planning has begun anew for the restoration project.

"This lawsuit is about the City of Destin government attempting to take private property under cover of 'saving the beach,' " said Shannon Goessling, director of the Southeastern Legal Foundation. "Public relations efforts by the City of Destin government aside, the (initial) lawsuit filed by Save Our Beaches is not about keeping beach renourishment from taking place."

The legal foundation has been hired to represent beachfront homeowners in the fight against Destin and its beach access policy that allows for public use of the beach 20 feet upland of the mean high water mark.

Although the foundation isn't representing property owners in their restoration legal challenge, Goessling said it would offer any assistance possible because restoration would add more public beach in front of private homes.

The homeowner group initially challenged the restoration plan in court, stating it would take away their rights to any natural land expansion because the accretion would occur on beach added through state funding and become public property.

One of the plaintiffs, Denny Jones, owns a gulf-front home in Crystal Beach. He said the City of Destin offered to add 50 feet of beach to his lot and then continue with more land for public use.

"They're trying to sell me with this, 'You're going to gain all this sand because that will now be your property.' " Jones said. "They're not trying to help us. They're trying to bring more tourists in here."

Jones and other restoration opponents have come under fire from some beachfront property owners after Hurricane Dennis.

Pat Young, another Crystal Beach resident opposed to restoration, said she has received antagonizing phone calls but has no intention of giving up the struggle against Destin and South Walton County. 'Obviously disappointed'

Restoration proponents believe adding sand to the beaches is in the best interest of the community as a whole.

"The damage we saw this year could be deadly for us," said Destin grants manager Lindey Chabot. "The charter boat captains, condominiums, beach shops ... they all rely on tourists and I just don't know if we can get the season back."

Tourism generates an estimated $188 million a year in Destin, and $685 million in Walton County -- nearly all of which is tied to the beach.

"Our visitors are showing up and are obviously disappointed in the shape of the beaches," said Destin Chamber of Commerce CEO Shane Moody. "As word gets out about the erosion, I fear people will change their minds about coming here."

A Walton County Tourist Development Council official said it may be the end of summer before tourism losses from Dennis can be calculated.

"We are still doing assessments to see how bad it is," said Tracy Louthain with the TDC.

The real estate market in Destin and South Walton County has also suffered.

"We are feeling it," said Debbie Gericke with Coldwell Banker JME Realty, "and we are seeing an increase in bottom fishing definitely."

Gericke said her office has taken many calls from investors looking to buy property that sustained significant damage from Dennis in hopes of turning a quick buck.

The red-hot real estate market along the Emerald Coast had cooled over the past several months. But Gericke said sales have stalled since the beginning of this year's active hurricane season. In one JME office, real estate agents have taken $18 million in listings but have sold only $4 million worth of property.

"It's not going to be something we bounce back from suddenly," Gericke said. No quick resolution

But even as beach restoration planning begins anew it won't provide a quick resolution to the beach erosion affecting nearly 13,000 jobs dependent on guests to the area and an economy driven by tourist dollars. Restoration will take years.

Representatives from Taylor Engineering, the firm hired to research and plan the project, are re-evaluating the critically eroded beaches in the area and updating their design.

Although engineers will need several months to revamp their plan for the beaches of Destin and South Walton County, beach restoration could begin before Nov. 1, the end of turtle nesting season. The project will still be for the original 6.5 miles of beach slated for restoration, but it is evident that the entire beach along Walton County and Destin is critically eroded.

Project engineer Mike Trudnak said planners are limited because of the amount of sand in the ebb shoal of Destin's East Pass, the borrow site for the project.

"I was pretty amazed at how much dune area was lost," Trudnak said. "That will take some of the depth we had on to rebuild that area."

Engineers estimate it would take nearly one million years for restoration to occur naturally.

"The area needs restoration," Trudnak said. "It's ridiculous to think it doesn't."

Walton County Beach Management Coordinator Brad Pickel said the project has become "life or death."

"Beach restoration projects generally focus on shore protection," Pickel said. "But I think our project has morphed into something much more."

Debris and unearthed cypress tree remains have raised safety issues. Pickel also said emergency vehicles are having trouble traversing the shrinking shoreline in some areas, such as the beach adjacent to Costa del Sol townhomes in Walton County.

"There is no sand left in our system to fight any more storms," Pickel said. "The tidal erosion has been too great and I just don't know what will become of our homes and environment and economy if we don't undergo beach restoration."

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Copyright (c) 2005, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

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Source: Northwest Florida Daily News

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