- April 24, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
There are 141 pieces of property along a 2.6-mile stretch of beach slated for a $25-million beach renourishment project. Two property owners, who together own three properties, haven’t signed on to approve the project — potentially endangering the project and its $17.5 million in funding through the Army Corps of Engineers.
The county government is planning to bring eminent domain cases against both owners, though it’s still open to talking, County Attorney Al Hadeed said.
“The Army Corps has indicated that — with this last stretch that we’re in — that if we’re not able to succeed, then we may be placed in a deferred status for the funding,” Hadeed told the County Commission on Jan. 10.
“We are in the process of coordinating and collaborating with them, as well as our experts, to move forward on the eminent domain cases while we also continue dialogue with the owners who have not so far executed easements,” Hadeed said.
The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the project, which will involve dredging sand from an offshore borrow pit and then using it to build up a dune that would help protect the areas west of it from flooding during major storms.
To proceed, the Corps of Engineers needs beachfront property owners’ written permission, in the form of signed easements, to access the project area properties to add the sand.
If even a handful of owners don’t grant that permission, then workers could not add sand there, and that would create potential breach points that would undermine the project. The county's eminent domain case would seek to allow access to the dune parcels for the project, not to take over ownership of them.
Hadeed, who’s led a push since 2019 to get owners to sign, noted that the properties in question are what are known as “remnant properties”: They’re properties east of State Road A1A that are linked to properties on the west side of A1A. Nothing can be built on the remnant properties aside from a beach walkover.
