A portion of the beach has been excluded from one renourishment project and from consideration for a second project.
At a July 20 meeting of the St. Johns County Commission, Commissioner Henry Dean made the recommendation.
“I have come to the conclusion that the beaches in Ponte Vedra Beach from roughly the Duval County line south for approximately three miles are actually in quite good shape,” he said.
However, he said there was “seriously critical erosion” from a point between the Sawgrass Country Club and Corona Road south to the Guana Preserve.
By reducing the scope of the project area, the county will save money on a renourishment project it is undertaking in cooperation with the state. The cost of that project would be reduced from $40 million to $32 million.
“We need to put our money where we can solve the most immediate problems, biggest problems, the most critical problems with respect to beach restoration,” said Dean.
In addition, the decision would reduce the scope of a beach protection study to be performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We have been asked by the Army Corps of Engineers to weigh in what our recommendation is with respect to the area to be the subject of the feasibility study and what, as a county, as a local sponsor, we would be willing to participate in and actions we might take to achieve that goal,” Dean said.
He suggested the board direct staff to write to the Corps indicating its preference to exclude the northernmost three miles of beach. The commission unanimously concurred.
The exclusion would mean only 5.7 miles of the northern Ponte Vedra Beach shore would be included in the Corps feasibility study. That three-year study could result in a 50-year, ongoing project to combat storm erosion.
But, it may ultimately prove to be a moot point. The Corps cannot renourish or otherwise commit to protecting a beach that doesn’t have adequate public access and parking for the public. Currently, there are only two access points in that stretch that satisfy that criteria, which is insufficient to proceed to the actual project.
