- April 24, 2024
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Flagler County's efforts to secure local beachfront property owners' permission — in the form of easements — for the Army Corps of Engineers' dune restoration project to proceed across their land continues, with four such easements in progress and another four outstanding.
"We have been authorized by this board to take legal action if necessary, but I am optimistic for the first time that we are going to bring this to a conclusion, we are not going to lose that funding and we are not going to put this whole island in jeopardy because of a failure to take action protect the beach," Flagler County Administrator Jerry Cameron said at a Feb. 1 County Commission workshop.
The project is designed to build up a dune to counteract erosion and prevent storm-driven waves from swamping State Road A1A and flooding the homes and businesses to its west, as occurred during recent hurricanes.
Because the work must proceed across privately-owned property, the Army Corps needs the owners to grant written permission for workers to come onto their land to add sand to the dune. Gaps in the project would create breech points that could endanger the entire thing, and the Corps won't build in those conditions: It would be a waste of the $25 million project cost.
The county government has led the effort to collect easement signatures, working to reassure wary owners that the easements don't require them to cede other rights to their land. So far, 133 have signed.
A grassroots efforts led by community members raised $40,000 to pay off holdouts to sign, earning agreements from five, Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed said.
Of the four holdouts that are not in the signing process, the county anticipates pursuing eminent domain to secure two properties that are owned by one owner. That leaves two remaining.
"We're obviously going to continue to work on all of these," Hadeed told county commissioners at the meeting. "...We understand we have the authorization to pursue all the legal remedies we may to secure the project for the community."
