New photos: beach restoration progress

[Unplugged]

Wow - look at our new Beach (http://unplugged.smugmug.com/gallery/1368267) !! :clap_1:

Miramar Beach near Mainsail and Edgewater condos.

We received an extra 100' of gorgeous white sand virtually overnight which tripled the width on this section of beach.

We're VERY impressed with the sand quality - what a remarkable difference this project has made - this will greatly benefit our rentals this season - you can bet that I'm promoting it on our sites ;-)

[Excalibur]

That is a pretty fancy new beach you have there.:clap_1:

Now, if we could only get the rest of the county done...............2008 is too long until they start on the rest of the county beaches.

[Smiling JOe]

http://unplugged.smugmug.com/photos/64548300-M.jpg

Unplugged, the lot to the left of the Rondette is available for under $2Million.

[Paula]

Great looking beach. :clap_1:

[Unplugged]

Unplugged, the lot to the left of the Rondette is available for under $2Million.That's right SJ: Just another bargain in this buyers market :lol:

Hey, let's partner up and build on it :cool:

I've been seeing some real steals on the MLS over the last few weeks. So glad we picked up our RE license a while back - it's fun to go window shopping these days... ;-)

[dbuck]

Thanks for the pictures, Unplugged. Other than the pipes and machinery, the beach looks great. So happy to see the wide beach there again. I have stayed in that very area many times. Love the round house. I watched the best party going on there once. They had Van Morrison blasting for hours, I almost crashed the party. I'll be glad when the beach restoration continues eastward.

[Smiling JOe]

That's right SJ: Just another bargain in this buyers market :lol:

Hey, let's partner up and build on it :cool:

I've been seeing some real steals on the MLS over the last few weeks. So glad we picked up our RE license a while back - it's fun to go window shopping these days... ;-)

It is a great price, but what would I do with a beach front house? Thanks, but no thanks.;-) Give me Bay front for less than half the price.:cool:

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

Thanks Unplugged !

Finally some good news we can all agree on !!

[yippie]

Great Photos! Thanks for posting them!!! :clap_1:

[Smiling JOe]

Thanks Unplugged !

Finally some good news we can all agree on !!Not everyone. See link to Walton Sun cover story (http://www.epaperedition.com/Default/Skins/WSun/Client.asp?Enter=true&Skin=WSun&Daily=WaltonSun&GZ=T&AppName=1).

[Miss Kitty]

Not everyone. See link to Walton Sun cover story (http://www.epaperedition.com/Default/Skins/WSun/Client.asp?Enter=true&Skin=WSun&Daily=WaltonSun&GZ=T&AppName=1).

:( ...saw a mountain of dirt near the Andalusia boardwalk yesterday....close to Seagrove Villas. And I mean a ^ mountain of dark top soil. whitey thinks it is fill for a tube. There is nothing more disheartening than feeling that white sand between your toes and then looking to your right and seeing that mess. I cannot be empathetic with the gulf front owners, since I am not one. I do feel for them and understand their desire to save property. IMHO, I think the dredging process was the best possible answer. But, I understand those wheels turn very slowly. I applaud the property owners that have brought in white sand, sea oats and fencing to the bluffs...of course, these owners homes weren't being compromised by erosion. As a property owner here in WC, I question the decision to add a protectube system next fall. They are starting the process of bringing in sand for the dune system next week. Baring any storms, my hope is that will be helpful enough to eliminate the tube. SJ...I'll let you know when the conveyor belts start churning....you can come over and get some pics.

Can someone tell me again why there was no standards for dune/property restoration here in Walton County?

[Mermaid]

:( ...saw a mountain of dirt near the Andalusia boardwalk yesterday....close to Seagrove Villas. And I mean a ^ mountain of dark top soil. whitey thinks it is fill for a tube. There is nothing more disheartening than feeling that white sand between your toes and then looking to your right and seeing that mess. I cannot be empathetic with the gulf front owners, since I am not one. I do feel for them and understand their desire to save property. IMHO, I think the dredging process was the best possible answer. But, I understand those wheels turn very slowly. I applaud the property owners that have brought in white sand, sea oats and fencing to the bluffs...of course, these owners homes weren't being compromised by erosion. As a property owner here in WC, I question the decision to add a protectube system next fall. They are starting the process of bringing in sand for the dune system next week. Baring any storms, my hope is that will be helpful enough to eliminate the tube. SJ...I'll let you know when the conveyor belts start churning....you can come over and get some pics.

Can someone tell me again why there was no standards for dune/property restoration here in Walton County?

Oh Miss Kitty, I didn't tell you about that mountain of dirt because I knew it would get you all upset. Isn't that the most disgusting pile of brown **** you ever saw? :bang: What it's doing on our beaches I don't know.

[ecopal]

Thanks for the pics SJ.
Looks nice.

I am not that familiar with the area of Sandestin to old 98.
I don't see any high ground in the pics. Is it all that low there?
We are really lucky to be on 30A!

However, I would think that a few areas along 30A could be considered emergency situations in need of immediate beach re-nourishment.

[TooFarTampa]

Oh Miss Kitty, I didn't tell you about that mountain of dirt because I knew it would get you all upset. Isn't that the most disgusting pile of brown **** you ever saw? :bang: What it's doing on our beaches I don't know.

I saw that today and was dismayed. The access at Dothan Ave. was closed for some reason :confused:. We walked down to Andalusia to get to the beach and saw the pile. I hear the pile was a lot higher a couple of days ago but I don't know what happened to the dirt. But make no mistake it is dirt. I applaud the other homeowners who have added sand and planted sea oats, and the one homeowner I saw who put up some really nice lines of sand fencing that I hope will one day build him or her a beautiful dune. There was lots of beautiful white squeaky sand on the beach though, and if you didn't look back it was a lovely experience.

I have a question: How exactly will dredging/dune restoration help the gulf front owners? I understand that it will add lots of white sand and some height to the horizontal surface. But how would that help the dunes/bluffs?

[Smiling JOe]

Thanks for the pics SJ.
Looks nice.

I am not that familiar with the area of Sandestin to old 98.
I don't see any high ground in the pics. Is it all that low there?
We are really lucky to be on 30A!

However, I would think that a few areas along 30A could be considered emergency situations in need of immediate beach re-nourishment.You can thank Unplugged for the photos. I was not the photographer, he was.

The ground is low in that area of Sandestin. The first line of defense for much of that area are the homes. Some of those homes may be only 10 ft above sea level at best.

[yippie]

Here are some photos I took yesterday afternoon from the beach access at the Mediterrian (sp). LOOK at the difference from looking east at the new beach and looking west at the old beach!!!

[beacheart]

In answer to the question about how dredging/beach renourishment will help the gulf front property owners. The big thing for us will be the increased depth of the beach. That will mean the water will be farther away from the houses. My house is on the very western end of 30-a. I watched high tide one day when the gulf was a little stirred and the water was coming up half way on the beach. As far as dunes are concerned - it takes many years for them to rebuild. Unless there is beach renourishment there will be no chance for them to rebuild.

[10ec williams]

We'll be in Gulf Trace mid-May. How are the beaches there? From pictures right after the hurricanes it looked like not only the beaches, but the homes, took a real beating.

[jdarg]

We'll be in Gulf Trace mid-May. How are the beaches there? From pictures right after the hurricanes it looked like not only the beaches, but the homes, took a real beating.


:welcome: Love your board name! Fantastic!

[10ec williams]

Thanks! We love SoWal. We started out in Destin more than 20 years ago and kept moving East as the beaches became more and more crowded. We've fallen for Gulf Trace. This will be our 6th stay there. We appreciate all the wonderful homeowners who share their places with us.

[Cheering472]

:welcome: 10ec

[katie blue]

Those pix look amazing! There is hope after all! I was interested to see the walton sun article last week indicating that "the chances are very good" for getting the green light for nourishment on the rest of the beach to the east. That's a more promising answer than I've heard yet. Granted, they're talking autumn of 2008 at a minimum, but that's the foreseeable future, and that makes me happy.

[jimmyp5]

the pictures do look super ... they give me a lot of hope for our continued beach life! my intuition is that they will indeed help to decrease (not totally prevent) storm damage to dunes and structures, and certainly adding 100' of beach must help our appeal to tourists.

with all the permitting, cost and delays involved in dredging & renourishing -- and with apparently clear benefits from it -- what about getting walton and okaloosa counties to go in together and buy the dredging and distribution equipment, and make this a continual process? sort oof like the way they're always painting the golden gate bridge .... paint it from one end to the other and then start over at the first end again. maybe include bay and/or santa rosa counties if the cost was prohibitive, or the renourishing only needed to be done half as often as a 2-county stretch of beach would produce?

[Smiling JOe]

the pictures do look super ... they give me a lot of hope for our continued beach life! my intuition is that they will indeed help to decrease (not totally prevent) storm damage to dunes and structures, and certainly adding 100' of beach must help our appeal to tourists.

with all the permitting, cost and delays involved in dredging & renourishing -- and with apparently clear benefits from it -- what about getting walton and okaloosa counties to go in together and buy the dredging and distribution equipment, and make this a continual process? sort oof like the way they're always painting the golden gate bridge .... paint it from one end to the other and then start over at the first end again. maybe include bay and/or santa rosa counties if the cost was prohibitive, or the renourishing only needed to be done half as often as a 2-county stretch of beach would produce?
I may move back to the mountains. :bang: What is wrong with nature?:idontno:

[John R]

from the Asbury Park Press via Surfrider Foundaton, New Jersey Chapter. make your own conclusion.

MAYOR: HOMEOWNERS MAY GET BEACH BILL

SURF CITY -- The latest salvo in the confrontation over restoring sand to Long Beach Island's erosion-prone beaches was launched by Mayor Leonard T. Connors Jr. when he said some oceanfront homeowners could be forced to pay for beach upkeep whether they like it or not.

Connors said he is convinced Surf City will not get the signed easements needed from property owners so a $5 million beach replenishment and storm protection project can begin this summer as scheduled.

Connors also declared Wednesday that the borough will not use eminent domain -- the authority to appropriate needed private land for a public use -- to acquire the private property. Eminent domain would require the town to pay an estimated $1 million minimum to buy beachfront land at fair market value.

Noting borough beaches between 18th and 24th streets are particularly weatherbeaten, and facing the prospect that the federally funded dredging and pumping of sand onto the eroded shoreline may be delayed, Connors said Surf City could draft an ordinance forcing oceanfront property owners to foot the bill.

"They can take care of the dunes themselves, or we will take care of it for them and send them the bill. I cannot stand for public money being used to fix private property," Connors said. "An established dune system is the most important thing in the front line of protection, and that has been established by both the federal and state governments. In the absence of homeowners taking care of the dunes themselves, we will do it for them."

Idea could catch on

The mayors of two other island towns, frustrated by the unwillingness of property owners to sign easements to allow the federal replenishment, said they also would consider similar measures in their municipalities.

DiAnne C. Gove, mayor of Long Beach Township, said the governing body has "toyed" with the idea of billing residents for beach work and would be very interested in the Surf City ordinance.

"Much of the sand being pushed around the beaches in Long Beach Township and Beach Haven is on private property," said Beach Haven Mayor Deborah C. Whitcraft. "If the oceanfront homeowners don't want to sign easements, we will make them responsible for the repairs."

Doris Spiegel, 78, of North Beach Avenue in Beach Haven said a municipality has no business moving sand onto private property.

A town "should not push sand under a home," said Spiegel, who has owned oceanfront property on Long Beach Island for 40 years. "If the homeowner asks for the sand, that's one thing. If not, they are trespassing. I think any town would have a lot of nerve sending a homeowner a bill."

If the ordinance is adopted, Surf City would make property owners responsible for the cost of the sand, labor and engineering, Connors said.

"We will notify the property owner, give them the opportunity to fix it themselves, or we will fix it and give them a bill," he said. "The fee will be added to the assessment on the property tax if it is not paid. We will not allow an area of vulnerability to exist because some homeowner is being cantankerous. If people don't want to sign the easements, that's fine."

In Long Beach Township, officials already have trucked in sand twice to repair dunes that were washed away.

"The money will run out at some point," Gove said. "There is going to come a point where someone has to be accountable for the money."

Property owners' argument

June Logan, a Long Beach Township resident who is organizing a meeting Sunday of oceanfront property owners to fight the replenishment project, said Connors should be working to make the easement more acceptable.

"The easement is so vague, with no limits on this or future projects, that no one in their right mind would sign it," Logan said. "The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how we can change this program so it is acceptable.... Long Beach Island will be destroyed by the plan as it stands now."

William Knarre, president of the Brant Beach Homeowners Association, questioned whether municipal officials would respond to a cave-in behind a bulkhead at a bayfront home as quickly as they do when sand erodes on the oceanfront.

"If the stones in my front yard get washed away, the town isn't going to help me," he said. "If a sinkhole opens in my back yard, is the town going to fill it? I don't think so."

Whitcraft called the growing divide on the island the tip of the iceberg.

"It can never be proven, but I believe there are oceanfront homeowners who don't want people in their back yard," she said. "If the beach gets replenished, there will be more people coming to the island... There is a sense of entitlement among some people that defies all logic, and their arrogance is unjustified. They don't want the common folk on what they think is their sand."

===
Copyright 2006 Asbury Park Press

[Smiling JOe]

Below are pics from April 28th(calm seas) and the 29th (rougher seas) from one of the properties skipped by the Beach Nourishment project due to threats from the home owners. From the deck, you hardly notice a difference in elevation, but from the beach, there is a WoW! factor.

http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P4280004.JPG
Arp 28 2006


http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P4280006.JPG


http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P4280014.JPG


http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P4290006.JPG
Arpil 29th

[beachdawg]

Awesome pics, looking alot better than I thought it would at this point