Access to Mickler’s Landing Beachfront Park will be restricted in the fall so that berms along Ponte Vedra Beach can be fortified against erosion.
But beachgoers should not expect to see a repeat of the kind of closure that prompted a public outcry two years ago.
On June 15, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the Federal Emergency Management Agency dune enhancement project, which is expected to put the first sand on the beach sometime in September. The exact date hasn’t been determined yet, as permitting is being sought from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The project will restore sand berms along 8.9 miles of the beach and is part of a larger project encompassing 11.5 miles of dunes between the Duval County line and an area in the southern part of Crescent Beach. The Ponte Vedra Beach segment is expected to be complete 76 working days after sand is first placed.
A total of 380,000 cubic yards of sand is expected to be delivered to the Ponte Vedra section during that time.
Participation is optional for the total 788 oceanfront properties located within the entire range of the project, but not everyone in Ponte Vedra has agreed to participate. At last count, an average of 79% of the eligible property owners in the Ponte Vedra portion have granted easements.
Homeowners in the project area may opt in up to two weeks prior to the work reaching their properties; work will be carried out in segments of about 2,000 feet. Conversely, homeowners can rescind easements up to July 1.
According to Ryan Purvis, vice president of engineering for the contractor, Continental Heavy Civil Corp., participants having a 100-foot lot will receive about $40,000 to $50,000 of “FEMA-funded sand.”
The project has been a source of concern among several residents of Ponte Vedra Boulevard because it will involve trucking large amounts of sand along the narrow road. Because there are no sidewalks along the affected length of the boulevard and a high presence of cyclists and pedestrians, residents have expressed concerns for safety.
In addition, some have pointed out that the trucks would mean noise, disruption in traffic and a potential for structural damage.
Initially, the plan called for 300-500 truckloads of sand to travel the boulevard daily between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. five days a week. The trucks would haul the sand from their staging area in Cornerstone Park behind the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall south along State Road A1A to Mickler Road and then north to a lot at 965 Ponte Vedra Boulevard, where they would cross over to the beach.
At a public meeting June 14 in the Cultural Center room of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, residents asked project officials why they hadn’t considered accessing the beach from Mickler’s Landing instead of hauling the sand up the boulevard.
Purvis indicated that the project could not be completed on schedule if only Mickler’s Landing was used. Still, officials left the option open as a supplemental access point.
The final decision was made June 15 by the County Commission, which was no doubt still smarting from a decision in 2019 that allowed Mickler’s Landing to be closed to the public so that geotextile tubes could be installed on 13 privately owned lots.
Commissioner Henry Dean distinguished between the two projects, saying there would be no use for the parking lot if there was no beach.
“If there’s ever a case, ever a reason that we should consider using Mickler’s Landing parking lot as additional access for this project, for beach restoration, it’s now,” said Dean, who had joined Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker at the June 14 public meeting and heard the safety concerns expressed by residents, as well as their questions about use of the lot.
But the commission had learned a hard lesson from the 2019 controversy. The board agreed to allow use of Mickler’s, but only on weekdays. A portion of the park and adjoining beach walkway are to remain open on weekends.
According to the contractor, use of Mickler’s will reduce truck traffic along Ponte Vedra Boulevard by 40-50%.
The project is not expected to impact the portion of Ponte Vedra Boulevard included in the JEA water project, as it is north of the access point at No. 965. All trucks servicing that stretch of beach will have already crossed over to the sand before they would get to the JEA work area.
One of the main factors in setting up the project’s logistics was a mandate by FEMA that all work would have to be complete by Dec. 31. Prior to this, the county had until June 30, 2022, to qualify for FEMA funds, which were earmarked for beach restoration following damage by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
But in February, FEMA notified the county that it would also provide funding for a Hurricane Irma project if the county combined it with the Matthew project and met the new deadline.
Because of the truncated timeline and the fact that work will have to begin before hurricane or sea turtle hatching seasons are over, the county has appealed for a return to the previous deadline. It has not yet heard back from FEMA.
In view of that, the contractor plans to watch for nests and mark them. If they cannot be worked around, they will be moved by a group of experts.
Even in the midst of debate over when, where and how the project should be implemented, most everyone agreed something needed to be done.
Matthew caused severe damage to the beach. In St. Johns County, there was an estimated $100 million in structural damage to about 265 homes, and the storm eroded an average of 30 feet of beach. Irma made the situation worse when it swept through the following year.
Erosion from the storms endangered coastal properties and also threatened S.R. A1A.
Purvis addressed the urgency of the project during a second town hall meeting, held Tuesday, June 22, at the Ponte Vedra Branch of the St. Johns County Library. He said FEMA considered it an “emergency project.”
Emphasizing that he was speaking for himself and not the county, Purvis said St. Johns County was “one Matthew or one Irma away from major destruction if this project doesn’t go through.”
Though the berm project will help protect the beach from erosion, it will not be a full 50-year renourishment project. That is being considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was allocated $500,000 in January to conduct a study to determine whether such a renourishment would be feasible. That study is expected to take three years.
The cost of the FEMA project is an estimated $34 million, with $23 million of that for the Ponte Vedra portion alone. FEMA will fund 90% of the project cost, with the county and state matching 5% each.
Included in the cost is approximately $200,000 to $260,000 to repair damages to Mickler’s Landing parking lot after the FEMA project is complete.
For further information on the project, go to sjcfl.us/coastalprojects/FEMADunes.aspx or email coastalprojects@sjcfl.us.
