Longboat Pass plans face opposition

The town of Longboat Key, Manatee County and the West Coast Inlet Navigation District are all facing opposition from Siesta Key residents about their plans to manage erosion of Beer Can Island and slow the drift of Longboat Pass.

The Siesta Key Association has tapped Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash to help it in its mission to stop the plans, which will include groins and dredging that they say will cause erosion problems south of Longboat Key.

Capt. Peter van Roekens, vice president of the SKA and founder of the Sarasota Boaters Coalition, says three groins included in the Longboat Key Inlet Management plan threaten to set the flow of Big Pass askew and possibly accelerate erosion of Lido and Siesta beaches.

“People want to put groins in but they’re very dangerous,” he says. “There are always unintended consequences.”

The intended consequences are to trap sand drawn southward slowing sediment displacement. The problem, van Roekens says, is that beaches further south don’t receive natural sand accumulation — taking one region’s erosion woes and passing them on to another.

The West Coast Inlet Navigation District, which helps plan and implement waterway projects, approved and endorsed the plan. It’s also backed by research conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc.

A deeper concern for SKA is that an approval could fast track plans being floated by the City of Sarasota and the Corps of Engineers for Lido renourishment. Big Pass and New Pass are the two inlets that are being considered for dredging, further amplifying potential negative consequences for Siesta Key.

Nora Patterson, a Sarasota County Commissioner who serves as the treasurer of WCIND, says the Corps of Engineers is studying the effects of potential dredging on the two inlets. However, she says Longboat’s inlet project will have little bearing on the study or solutions suggested for that potential project. “These groins don’t look like they will damage Lido,” she says.

Two sand traps cut for dredging Longboat Pass are also included in the plan, under the supervision of WCIND. They could yield roughly 90,000 cubic yards of sand to renourish Longboat beaches, according to an April 2 permit filed by the organization.

The Manatee County Commission voted 6-1 in favor of the inlet management plan March 27, with one dissenting vote coming from McClash.

A Feb. 10 correspondence between Manatee Deputy County Attorney Rodney Wade and McClash explored questions about the deed binding “Beer Can Island” to the county. One of the restrictions outlined in the document is that the property be kept in its “natural state” and that “no man-made alterations or structures shall be constructed or placed on the property.” The terminal groin bound for the island could be a violation, the letter stated.

McClash has also petitioned the Army Corps of Engineers for a public hearing on the inlet management plan and an environmental impact statement to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act, due to its use of federal funds.