Commission nixes south end sand project

Residents on the south end of Longboat Key — especially near Pierre, Longboat Towers and L’Ambiance condominiums — are going to have to get used to not having much of a beach behind their condominiums for a while.

That’s because the Longboat Key Town Commission decided Nov. 12 at its regular workshop not to move forward with a $1.4 million emergency sand project that involved 90 dump trucks driving onto and off the Key every day, bringing 1,500 truckloads of sand to the south end just after Easter.

Commissioners had concerns with the cost of the project and the traffic headache it will bring to the island.

Commissioner Phill Younger called the sand “sacrificial,” explaining it was just a stop gap until 315,000 cubic yards of sand can be placed there when the town dredges New Pass and places sand from that project on the south end in 2016.

Although the commission urged its beach consultants to find another way to bring 25,000 cubic yards of interim sand to the severely eroded south end, Olsen Associates consultants reported Nov. 12 that they can’t get a permit until April at the earliest to pick up sand from more sand-plentiful areas of the Key. Mayor Jim Brown proposed in October that the town find a way to take sand from areas such as behind the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort and move it to the south end, where it’s needed.

Moving sand from the Colony area, according to Public Works Director Juan Florensa, also involves closing approximately 2 miles of beach between the Colony and L’Ambiance so trucks can transport the sand to the south end. The cost of that project could range from $300,000 to $700,000.

The complexities of closing the beach and costs involved for moving sand and/or truck-hauling sand prompted the commission to hold off on a sand project until the $3 million New Pass sand dredging project in 2016.

Commissioners and Town Manager Dave Bullock know the decision doesn’t make south end residents feel any better.

“My heart goes out to those who are there, they are caught without a recreational beach,” Bullock said. “I struggle with the expenditure of funds, yet these are some of the highest property values on the Key, and they set the image for the Key, and they really do have one of the worst recreational beaches on the Key.”
Commissioner Terry Gans said residents with a lack of beach can walk south to enjoy a beach in front of the Longboat Key Club.

“They have to make it through the season without a recreational beach,” Gans said.

Although Vice Mayor Jack Duncan suggested residents with a lack of beach could be shuttled by a tram or bus to other areas of the beach, other commissioners did not support the concept.

In the meantime, a vegetated dune system still intact in the eroded areas of the south end and what’s left of the beach there still protect the condominiums.

The commission asked town staff to educate south end residents on the importance of holding out for a New Pass dredging project, while using healthier areas of the beach to the south and north of their properties.

But the commission’s decision doesn’t assuage the concerns of residents who look out daily from their units at a thinning beach.

Pierre Community Association Manager Margaret Suarez sent a Nov. 12 email to Bullock, saying the town wasn’t moving quickly enough to restore a beach.

“We are seeing property values decrease due to the lack of beach, and we also have concerns this will affect our dunes,” Suarez wrote.

Sand Needs
For one big islandwide project, the town of Longboat Key needs: