St. Joseph Peninsula Beach Advisory Committee      












FAQ

FAQs about Construction Easements

FAQs about Project Construction Phase

FAQs about the Coastal Construction Control Line as it Relates to our Beach Restoration Project


Origional FAQs on Project Construction

FAQs about Construction Easements
If I don't sign a construction easement, does that mean the Erosion Control Line will not go into effect for my property?
ANSWER: No. The implementation of the Erosion Control Line, or ECL, is completely independent of your construction easement. Public hearings on the ECL were held on May 22, 2007. The ECL will be drawn where the existing Mean High Water Line was surveyed in November of 2006.

If I sign a construction easement, does it mean I am giving away some of my property to the County or the State?
ANSWER: No, you are not giving away property or property rights. You are simply signing a construction easement that will allow the temporary placement of the pipeline on your private property, will allow workers to step onto your private property during the construction process, and will allow the placement of a large amount of sand on your private property to reconstruct the dune line and berms.

If I don't sign a construction easement, does that mean I don't have to pay the MSTU tax anymore?
ANSWER: The MSTU is a tax that will continue to be levied on your property?s value whether you sign the construction easement or not.

If I don't sign a construction easement, will that stop the beach project?
ANSWER: We do not require 100% return of the construction easements for the beach project to be constructed. We are well above the percentage of executed construction easements needed to ensure the project will move forward as planned.

If I don?t sign a construction easement, will they still put sand in front of my property?
ANSWER: Without permission to come onto your private property, the contractor will not be able to place sand landward of the Erosion Control Line, on your private property. The construction will, instead, "build around" your property seaward from the ECL. The beach will be the same width as your neighbors on either side, but you will not have the dune and berm in front of your property as they will if they have signed a construction easement.

If my property is "built around" by the project, what will it look like?
ANSWER: It is impossible to say precisely what the appearance of your property will be if you elect not to sign a construction easement and sand is only placed from the ECL seaward. A photo of what one such property looked like after construction can be viewed by clicking here. Typically, however, you will have no berm or dune structure in front of your property. You will have an area that is much lower than the surrounding beach as a result. Sometimes these areas will fill with water for some period of time.

If my neighbor doesn't sign a construction easement, is there anything I can do about it?
ANSWER: It is your neighbor's legal right to choose not to sign a construction easement. Please be sure, however, they have seen the FAQs with regard to the construction easement and what it does and does not mean to them as a private property owner

FAQs about Project Construction Phase
IMPORTANT NOTE:  Although the BOCC has issued the intent to award the project to Manson Construction, many of the details regarding the construction phase of our project are not known at this time due to the petion that was filed agaist FDEP and the issuance of our permit.  As soon as this matter has been resolved, we will update the website with the most current information.   See the "Latest News" tab for more detailed information concerning the petition.

When will the pumping and dredging start?
ANSWER: It was originally estimated the project would get underway sometime in October of 2007. However, it is not known at this time when we will be able to begin the project. 

How long will the pumping go on?
ANSWER: It is estimated the construction of the entire beach project will take seven months. It could take more or less time, depending on whether the dredging company decides to use more than one dredge or we have delays for weather, etc.  We have received permission for the project to span 2 years, should that become necessary.

Where will the pumping and dredging start?
ANSWER: We will not have definite answers on where the project will commence, or even if it will commence in more than one spot at a time, until the petion has been resolved.  At that time, they will formulate the construction plan and we will make it available.

Will they pump sand up in more than one place at a time?
ANSWER: See the answer to the previous question. It is possible a dredging company may choose to use more than one type of dredge, depending on the final choices of borrow areas and other factors. It is likely we will only have one dredge in operation at a time, however.

How long will the construction be in front of my property?
ANSWER: There are several things that may impact the amount of time construction is ongoing. Delays could be caused by inclement weather, equipment problems or the taking of an endangered species such as a sea turtle. Without delays, projects typically progress at a rate of anywhere from 100 and 500 feet per day. For the typical 100-foot-wide gulf-front lot, you could anticipate the project moving to your lot and beyond it within probably a week?s time without weather or equipment delays. The pipeline itself will not remain in front of your property for the entire project, but may be in front of your property for approximately 30 to 45 days, until the project moves far enough down the beach for it to be removed.

Will I be able to get onto the beach while the project is going on?
ANSWER: Temporary access points in the form of "sand ramps" will be constructed approximately every 500 feet to allow everyone a way to get to the beach during the construction process. It might mean that you will have to walk some distance north or south of your property to one of the temporary accesses, but you will always be able to get to the beach during construction. Pedestrian traffic may be prohibited in the 300- or 500-foot segment under active construction, but that would be a temporary situation for a relatively short period of time, and you could simply enjoy the beach northward or southward of the construction activity.

Do they work certain days of the week or certain hours of the day?
ANSWER: The beach restoration project is a 24/7 project, weather conditions permitting. The contractor works on approximately 1000-foot segments of the beach at a time and works at a rate of about 300 to 500 feet of beach per day, moving the equipment and workers as they progress down the beachfront.

Is the construction noisy?
ANSWER: You will definitely be able to tell there is a construction site in your area when the operations are near or in front of your property. The typical sounds you experience from a construction site with bulldozers and trucks is what you should expect.

Will I still be able to rent my home or condo during construction?
ANSWER: In many other beach communities, such as Navarre last year, rentals and owners still enjoyed the beach and typical vacationing activities during the restoration construction. Once we have a project outline that you can make available to your guests, you will be able to advise them generally where the construction will be during their vacations.

Will I have to take my boardwalk down?
ANSWER: Whether you remove your boardwalk before the project begins is up to you. It is suggested that you do so, however. When the dredger encounters any structure that is not removed (boardwalks, gazebos, etc.) they will only place sand up to and around it. If you leave a structure intact and the dredger places sand around it, it may not be as much sand as your property would have received if you had removed it. If you wish to remove and then reinstall your boardwalk or other structure, we suggest you check with the individual who constructed them on the best way to remove and perhaps reinstall them after construction.

Will I have to get a permit to build back my gazebo or boardwalk that was destroyed in past storms and I now want to rebuild?
ANSWER: Any activity seaward of the CCCL requires a permit. However, it depends on the size and type of structure. For walkovers that meet certain FDEP criteria, a field permit may be issued. For other structures, such as gazebos, you may need to apply for and obtain a CCCL permit. As we get closer to the time for such permitting to be necessary, information on who to contact at FDEP will be available at the www.SaveTheCape.com website or you can call the TDC for more information. It is extremely important that you do not begin construction of any boardwalk or other structure without obtaining the necessary permitting to do so, however. You can view Sand Fence Guidelines here or Dune Walkover Guidelines here.

Will I have to plant sea oats myself?
ANSWER: As part of the restoration project, the reshaping and replanting of the dunes will be undertaken. If you wish to supplement the sea oat planting or add additional plantings behind the berm line, you certainly may do that.

How long until the beach is the width, height and color it's going to be long term?
ANSWER: The beach profile, or the angle and height at which the beach runs from onshore down to the water and below the water level, is very carefully designed by the project engineer based on years of experience and education. Built into this design is something called "profile equilibration."  What this means in plain language is that the way the beach looks immediately post construction is not what it will look like after the profile adjusts. This is intentional and there will be some amount of sand that will leave the beach and go out to restore our offshore bar systems, for example. How quickly a profile equilibrates depends on the number and intensity of storm events in our area immediately after construction and other environmental factors. Once equilibration has taken place, the beach will "settle in" and the shoreline should perform as designed by our engineer, with an expected 7 to 10 years before nourishment is required, barring major hurricane events.

With regard to the color of the sand, when pumped ashore the sand is wet and therefore appears darker than the native sand. It will dry quickly and will also continue to bleach for some period of time after it's been placed on the dry beach. This process occurs relatively quickly. The sand that's being placed on the beach has been very carefully selected and put through rigorous testing by the engineering firm and FDEP to meet criteria for color as well as other qualities that are important to a healthy and attractive beach.

FAQs about the Coastal Construction Control Line as it Relates to our Beach Restoration Project
Did the beach project bring about the redrawing of the CCCL?
ANSWER: No. The redrawing of the CCCL was a process underway at the request of the Coastal High Hazards Committee after the 2004 hurricane season. The fact that the timing of the redrawing of the CCCL is so close in time to the drawing of our Erosion Control Line, or ECL, and the construction of our beach project is purely coincidental.

Can't we just ask the State to wait and redraw the line after the beach project?
ANSWER: We could ask the State to wait and implement the new CCCL after the beach project is constructed. However, that doesn't affect where the CCCL line will be. Gulf County officials and several members of the community are working diligently with FDEP to identify a solution to the problems presented by redrawing the line, the platting date of many of our vacant parcels, and other factors that make the Cape unique with regard to the CCCL.

How does the beach project affect the CCCL?
ANSWER: Without the beach restoration project, we would have had no basis whatsoever to challenge the proposed new CCCL. As it stands now, there is a 10-year credit for the beach project given against the 30-year erosion line. If you are an owner with undeveloped gulf-front property or a gulf-front property owner who could still possibly subdivide your land into smaller parcels, be sure to sign your construction easements and support the beach restoration project. By restoring our beaches and placing an Erosion Control Line into effect, we do have a basis for argument that the 30-year-erosion line will not impact our properties as it would without the beach restoration project.

Origional FAQs on Project Construction

What brought about all this talk of a Beach Restoration Project?

Until 1994, the Gulf of Mexico along the Panhandle’s coastline had enjoyed years of relative calm. Storms occurred so infrequently, with such ample time periods in between, that our beaches were able to restore themselves through natural accretion. No major storm had disrupted the dune system, and those large, sturdy dunes protected the stability of our beach and the upland structures beyond them.

Then, in 1995, Hurricane Opal ravaged the Panhandle’s beaches. Our dunes were destroyed, and with them, our healthy beach system. We lost thousands of tons of sand from our beaches. For the first time in history, the State of Florida declared much of Florida’s western Panhandle coastline as “critically eroded” and offered millions of dollars in grant funding to counties and municipalities to address beach revegetation and renourishment issues. This was over and above FEMA dollars given as a direct result of the disaster strictly to re-establish a primary berm line to protect upland structures and infrastructure from tidal action in the event of another major storm.

Between 1995 and the present time, repetitive damaging storms have continued to eat away the sand from our already depleted beaches. In 2005, Gulf County accepted State grant funds to conduct a “Beach Management Feasibility Study.”

What is a Beach Management Feasibility Study?

The purpose of the study is to determine how the sand system in the project area (the beaches between Stump Hole and the State Park) is affected by waves, tidal action and storm surge.  The study is intended to determine where the sand is going once it washes away from our beaches and to identify the factors that are causing the erosion to occur.

In addition, the study and related sand search is intended to identify the source for restoring the sand to our beaches and address the impact that this will have on the region’s sand dynamics.

What is happening with the beach management feasibility study?

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection awarded Gulf County with approximately $562,000 to conduct the study and an offshore sand search to restore the critically eroded beaches located in the project area.  Since that time, county and state officials, in conjunction with concerned citizens, have made tremendous progress toward a long-term beach restoration program.  

The county hired a Coastal Engineering firm, MRD Associates, to conduct the feasibility study and the sand search.  The study is on track for completion in February 2006.  Additionally the Gulf County Tourism Development Council hired a well recognized economist to prepare a countywide economic impact statement addressing the economic importance of our beaches.  The results from the study have been received in preliminary form. Probably the most significant progress was in the formation of the St Josephs Peninsula Beach Advisory Committee.  Our mission is statement is as follows:

"To bring about the successful restoration of the beach of St. Joseph’s Peninsula no later than December 31, 2007 and to devise a follow-on plan for future beach maintenance".

What will be the results of the study?

The study will result in a recommendation to restore our beaches, which will involve “beach restoration.”  Beach restoration generally involves extending the beach through a process of dredging sand and returning it to the beach.  Once implemented, the project will become an ongoing process which will likely include maintenance (or adding additional sand) every 5 to 7 years to maintain the beach.



What are the benefits of restoring the beach?

In 2002, we made national news when we were designated as the #1 beach in the country by the highly regarded Dr. Beach (Dr. Stephen Leatherman)! Once restored, our beach will return to the pristine & majestic state that made it worthy of this award.

Even more importantly, our homes and properties will be protected from the storm-surge damage commonly experienced with Ivan and Dennis. Also, as noted in the economic study, properties located in areas with managed beaches normally enjoy increased property values after restoration. Finally, the habitat for our diverse coastal wildlife will be restored.

Equally as important to Gulf County, but less recognized, are the substantial economic benefits that result from our beaches. Beaches contribute to expanding federal, state, and local tax bases; increased income and employment opportunities for residents; and increased visitor spending.

How Successful are Beach Restoration Projects?

Beach restoration is just the first step in a managed beach program.   Every restoration project develops a plan for anticipated maintenance of their beach, usually designed for approximately every 6 to 8 years.  The beach is designed with a volume of sand to achieve a specific level of storm protection.  An additional 6 to 8 years of “sacrificial” sand is added to account for the ongoing beach erosion.  After construction, the beach performance is monitored and maintenance nourishment occurs when the “sacrificial” sand is nearly eroded. Some beaches perform better than expected and exceed their designed nourishment interval.  Some beaches, particularly in the event of severe storm damage like that seen from the 2004 hurricane season, may require an accelerated nourishment event.  

The designed nourishment interval in a project is driven by performance and economics.  If the project is in an erosive area, the beach won’t perform as well and will necessitate a more frequent nourishment interval.  Also, a shorter project (shoreline length) will not perform as well as a longer project.  From a cost perspective,  it can actually be cheaper to nourish more frequently than wait a few extra years.  This has to do with the volume of material needed and the cost per cubic yard.Overall, however, beach restoration projects in the state of Florida are performing well.  Further, it is important to note that no community that has embarked on a beach restoration and maintenance program has then chosen to abandon it because they felt the cost/benefit ratio didn't warrant continuing to maintain a healthy beach and the income streams that beach produced for tourism dollars, appreciating property values, and tax revenues.

With our restoration and nourishment planning, we should all keep in mind that the engineer’s design will anticipate performance based on erosion rates and sediment characteristics derived from the studies currently being undertaken by MRD Associates.   Additionally, the beach will be surveyed annually to monitor its performance.  Should the monitoring data indicate poor project performance, the engineer will look for alternatives to enhance the project’s longevity.  These may include a change in the sediment characteristics (perhaps a coarser grain size), change in sediment volumes (possible additional sand at a particular location) or the incorporation of structures (groins or breakwaters).

You may find the performance of Sand Key's beach to be of interest.  Their beach is shown in the large photographs currently residing in our photo gallery.  Sand Key's project was designed with a nourishment cycle of five years.  As a result of monitoring, it was found to have performed better than expected.  It is also a pretty large project, with 9.3 miles of shoreline.  It is scheduled for nourishment to begin this month, over seven years since the last event, which was started in March 1998.   Even without the 2004 hurricane season, this would be considered an excellent performance by their beach!  

Again, the key to the process is not only initial restoration but regular maintenance.  Just like painting the house, changing the oil in the car or the continued care and maintenance of anything of value you want to keep in good condition, beaches need periodic attention.  An essential part of the restoration plan is to anticipate that need and have the permitting and funding stream in place before implementation is required.

This page will be updated on a regular basis.  Please visit again soon.

 
With great appreciation, portions of this site were used with permission from the Florida DEP, the City of Destin, the Town of Hilton Head Island and Sand Key.

The content provided herein is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Gulf County Tourist Development Council or Gulf County, Florida.

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St. Joseph Peninsula Beach Advisory Committee