Lido Beach eroded last month

Residents on Lido Key who have sounded the alarms on the critically eroded status of the island’s shorelines were vindicated this week, though not necessarily in the way they hoped.

The most recent survey of the Lido Key shoreline, undertaken by the city and county, showed that the entirety of Lido Beach had eroded away as of early March. The loss of the beach, one of the major tourist and economic engines in the region, came as a surprise to officials.

“To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve made it out to Lido myself,” one county employee said. “Most of our attention has been devoted to preserving Siesta. You know, the No. 1 beach. Lido hasn’t even cracked the top 250.”

As the city and county scramble to get state approval for an immediate beach renourishment project, officials are encouraging property owners along the shoreline to make the best of what might feel like a bad situation.

“If I told you that, all of a sudden, you had a property that directly overlooked the water, would you really be mad about it?” a city official asked.