Palm Beach is back on schedule to replenish the dunes on the coastline south of the Lake Worth Pier in November, after residents of the Atrium Condominiums agreed to host the project, Coastal Manager Sara Gutekunst told the Town Council on June 10.
The Atrium’s move to host the South End project was a breakthrough for Palm Beach, as the coastline was originally part of this year’s Phipps Ocean Park Beach Nourishment and Dune replenishment project, but was left untouched after the city of Lake Worth Beach withdrew a beach access agreement it had with Palm Beach.
But that wasn’t the only major beach management update delivered during the council’s meeting.
Town Engineer Patricia Strayer also announced that the town may have found a way to go forward with the federally backed Midtown Beach Nourishment Project to replace the sand lost to Hurricane Nicole by the end of this year — temporary easements.
However, she warned it was a one-time solution, and would require the town, or the property owners who have yet to grant the perpetual easements required for the project, to fork over a combined $229,540 for the sand placements. It’s a burden Town Council members said private property owners should own up to.
“It’s the only acceptable option to me,” Council Member Ted Cooney said.
Here’s the latest on both projects:
Palm Beach to consider rotating schedule for future South End dune projects
During last month’s council meeting, condo representatives pleaded for the town to find a new access point for the project to replenish dunes on the coastline from south of the Lake Worth Beach Pier to La Bonne Vie Condominium, even if that meant property owners had to be compensated.
But town officials and staff pushed back, arguing that it would set a harmful precedent. They contended that the town provides compensation by paying for building inspections before and after the project and any needed repairs, and also cleaning up any area of the property used as a work site.
Following that meeting, town staff met with seven South End condominium boards and residents to find a property willing to host the town’s dune nourishment efforts, Gutekunst said during the June 10 council meeting.
“We had a very positive conversation. They expressed great support for the program, they want to get it done,” she said of the meeting where the Atrium agreed to host the project.
Expected to start sometime in November, the project will see trucks transporting the stockpiled sand at Phipps Ocean Park to the Atrium’s property before it is shoveled onto a conveyor belt and dumped on the coast, she said. From there, another truck would collect the sand before placing it at the target location.
Public Works Director Paul Brazil said those trucks will enter the coastline via a beach access point in Lantana.
While the Atrium will serve as the staging area for the upcoming project, Gutekunst said the town has continued its beach access discussion with the other six condominiums in the area. “We want to establish this long-term program so that it can be a cooperative agreement and we can rotate between these condos,” she said.
Council President Pro-Tem Lew Crampton said the Citizens’ Association of Palm Beach could help the town’s effort to persuade the remaining condos to sign on to a rotating schedule.
Property owners who did not sign a perpetual easement should pay for sand placements, council members say
During the June 10 meeting, Strayer said that the town had received unofficial guidance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a way forward for the Midtown Beach Nourishment Project to replace sand lost from Hurricane Nicole.
The unofficial guidance from the Army Corps stated that under the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, the town can instead use temporary easements for areas not under a perpetual easement, Strayer said.
The guidance echoes the argument made by attorneys for The Breakers during a contentious Feb. 11 Town Council meeting, during which the resort objected to granting the perpetual easements that would have converted its coastline into a public beach.
However, the new guidance is not without issues, as Strayer noted that the Army Corps would not fund the sand placed at the coastlines of the six properties that have not signed perpetual easements.
That leaves Palm Beach with two options: paying the combined total of $229,540 required to place sand at those locations, or having the individual property owners pay for the sand. Though the council supported making those residents pay, Council Member Bridget Moran asked how the town could do it.
Town Attorney Joanne O’Connor said she would need to research the topic but believed it could be possible through a municipal assessment process. Strayer said the council would need to make a decision by July 8 to give her enough time to obtain the required temporary easements.
However, she also emphasized that this would be a solution for only this project, as the town’s 50-year Midtown Beach nourishment agreement with the Army Corps requires Palm Beach to obtain perpetual easements for the entire stretch coastline from Sunrise Avenue to Banyan Road.
“If we lose this, we are talking about half a billion dollars in terms of the future,” Council President Bobbie Lindsay said.
Council members chose to delay their decision on the path forward until their July 8 meeting.
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Atrium condo agrees to host dune replenishment project
Reporting by Diego Diaz Lasa, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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