disturbing article in Press Journal

[CBulla]

As a former property holder in Vero Beach I have witness countless attempts over the past 20 years to “stabilize” the beach at the JC Park and walkway, and the Rio Mar area. None have worked for long in the past, and I venture to say, none will work in the long term.

As a life long citizen of FL and native to the Ft Myers Beach areas, I couldn't agree more. I have yet to see a renourishment project last long.

 

[simbrooks]

Is this much different than trying to control the meanders of a river due to cities being built next to them??? I see all these things that try to control the environment and natural cycles as very wasteful and also fruitless in the long term.

 

[DennisS]

How does the beach look up at Sebastian, they dumped acres of sand up there just south of the inlet a few years ago. Did it stay in place.

 

[100days-a-year]

Wanna see some real inequities as to how tax monies are levied,collected and spent.Beachfront owners pay a whole lot more in taxes on thier property due to it's increased value yet often use far fewer services provided by those same munincipal taxes.Since beachfront owners tend to be somewhat older as a group they have fewer children and often rarely leave thier local areas thus using the roads less.So in some ways they actually help to subsidize everyone else.
My beef with all renourishment programs is that they are a short lived solution and are often ecologically unsound.A seawall or building moratorium could be options but then those would actually be on the owners property and not on public beach right of way.
Another thing to consider would be who would compensate the beachfront owners for loss of thier property if nothing is done?You guessed it ..Tax dollars.Either way those houses are there and whether they stay or go it's gonna cost.

 

[CBulla]

Until recent times, nobody built on barrier islands in FL.. One old timer here was quoted in the news paper as saying "I'm going to laugh like hell when all those people lose their condo's on the beach..."

He's probably gettin a good laugh right now, most of the beach front stuff here is condemned.. but so is where he lives to, the eye of Charley went right over where he moved to.

 

[Rice]

Ok, at least several of you think putting sand on a beach is a waste of money.

What about the possibility of covering some of the very few shore diveable reeefs in florida? Dosen't that strike a chord?
shouldn't we try to protect our shore dives?
Rice

 

[CBulla]

As a market, we dont create as much revenue flow as general tourism, so overall we'd be the proverbial pebble trying to change the course of a river. What has to happen to stop it is at the Federal level where, as some places with hurricane damage last year in the VA and NC area, they rebuild isn't allowed to happen and as a result a renourishment is not considered because there aren't housing or tourist dollars directly tied to the existance of a barrier island.

I've always thought that living on the barrier islands should be an "at your own risk" deal. Its not so much the ecological factors, though I've got stories of whole micro ecosystems being erased here, but the volitility there of.

 

[100days-a-year]

Colin,not to pick on you but what about people in flood prone areas?People in tornado prone areas,drought prone areas,earthquake prone areas?
I know it seems topical due to the recent storms we experienced but in any given area there are potentials for serious damage due to "Acts of God"Who is to decide which behavior is or isn't worthy of protection.Not a call I want the responsibilty for making.Is it any less sensible to build in Texas or Oklahoma knowing tornadoes do billions in damage there or to build on the west coast along a known and active fault line?I agree tho, society must somehow protect itself from people who insist on exemplifying the Darwin awards.

 

[simbrooks]

Colin,not to pick on you but what about people in flood prone areas?People in tornado prone areas,drought prone areas,earthquake prone areas?
I know it seems topical due to the recent storms we experienced but in any given area there are potentials for serious damage due to "Acts of God"Who is to decide which behavior is or isn't worthy of protection.Not a call I want the responsibilty for making.Is it any less sensible to build in Texas or Oklahoma knowing tornadoes do billions in damage there or to build on the west coast along a known and active fault line?I agree tho, society must somehow protect itself from people who insist on exemplifying the Darwin awards.

For those types of risks you have insurance, you CYA with that, should not the government paying for it with your taxes on something that is futile and unpredictable. In the case of some of those states, you are likely to get a hit of those things anyway, the movement of the barrier islands is a natural cycle (as is the river meandering), it is reasonably predictable with a little catalyst from the occasional hurricane. I think it unreasonable as a FL tax payer to protect those on the coast when they shouldnt have homes there to start with - or should expect the shoreline to be in a state of flux. Of course hurricane damage is something i dont laugh at, but most have insurance to cover the loss or damage to their homes. This beach renourishment doesnt really accomplish anything long term.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

As a market, we dont create as much revenue flow as general tourism

Bingo - that's the reason why I'm personally torn over the beach renourishment projects I'm familiar with. Tourism is the #1 industry in Florida, and without nice big sandy beaches you aren't going to have lots of people come here and spend money. But as a diver I know that there's a few acres of reef destined to be buried in Broward County as they fill in the beach (though they just may have been buried anyway due to the past few storms).

In Broward County they've mitigated the damaged reefs by requiring addititonal artificial reefs be created. The projects also have the backing of the US Fish and Wildlife Service as it improves the nesting areas of turtles, and even allow work to proceed during nesting season.

Marc