Seawall has turtle watchers walking on eggshells

Longboat Key Turtle Watch is going into nesting mode in preparation for May 1, the start of the six-month turtle-nesting season.

But at the April 2 Longboat Key Town Commission regular meeting, volunteer Larry Grossman brought up an issue that in past seasons has had Turtle Watchers walking on eggshells (figuratively, of course): the exposed seawall at the former Yonkers property in the 6600 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive.

“As we approach the new season, it’s still unresolved as to whether we are actually trespassing when we get on top of that seawall to cross over to the other side as part of our sea-turtle patrol duties,” Grossman said.

Mayor Jim Brown told Grossman that approximately two years ago the town began looking into buying the property and possibly tearing down the seawall. The owner, who is currently building a home on the property wasn’t interested, according to Brown, but indicated he didn’t have a problem with people walking across it.

But Grossman suggested a public-access easement that would allow the town to assume liability.
Commissioner Lynn Larson, however, said she wouldn’t want the town to assume liability for property it didn’t own or control.

The seawall issue came up at a commission workshop last September, when commissioners asked the town’s beach engineering firm, Coastal Planning & Engineering Inc., about removing the seawall. A CP&E representative said that removing the seawall could jeopardize the home at the property.

At the April 2 meeting, Brown told Grossman that the town would look into his concerns.