FORT WALTON BEACH — The beach restoration project on Okaloosa Island is all but dead after Commissioner bill Roberts on Tuesday said it should be dropped because it has become too divisive.
Commissioners will hold a public hearing Jan. 17 to make it official.
Roberts, historically a strong supporter of beach renourishment, said the issue, “whether fueled by fact or fiction, has created legitimate concerns.”
“It’s divided not only this chamber, but it is dividing this community,” he said. “I’m saying let’s end it for Okaloosa Island … and move on.”
With Roberts’ change of heart, the board now has a majority willing to vote down the proposed $12 million restoration project, which would add 940,000 cubic yards of sand to the 2.8-mile stretch of beach on Okaloosa Island.
Commissioners Dave Parisot and Wayne Harris voted in August against continuing the project.
At the Jan. 17 commission meeting, which will be held at the Emerald Coast Convention Center to accommodate the crowd, the board will vote on whether to repeal the ordinance authorizing the annual fees residents on Okaloosa Island and in the western part of Destin pay for beach restoration.
If the law is repealed, the fees collected under a Municipal Services Benefit Unit would be refunded with interest.
The MSBU collects about $490,000 from Okaloosa Island and $410,000 from Destin annually. to date, the MSBU has collected about $2.7 million.
Commissioners also agreed to ask Destin to take over the permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection for the proposed $8 million beach restoration to 1.7 miles of shoreline in the west Destin area.
The county had applied for the permits for the Destin and Okaloosa Island projects at the same time in hopes of saving time and money for dredging the sand to be placed on the beaches. if the county drops the Okaloosa Island work, Destin officials would be free to complete that renourishment project on their own.
Roberts said he wants to see an end to the litigation that has entangled the county for the past several years.
Okaloosa Island residents Rebecca and David Sherry sued the county over the project, saying it would compromise the existing beach with inferior sand.
In September, an administrative law judge recommended that the DEP deny the county’s permit because the sand would be too dark and contain too many shells.
DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard is expected to issue a final order in the case by Dec. 29.
Although he publicly backed away from beach restoration on Okaloosa Island, Roberts said he hopes the county gets the DEP permit.
“I know that statement is confusing, but when the permit is issued, it has a life of five years,” he said during the commission meeting.
If a hurricane hits the area within that time, the county would be able to react much more quickly with a permit in place, Roberts added.
Commission Chairman James Campbell voted to hold the public hearing in January, but questioned the wisdom of dropping the Okaloosa Island project.
“when (a hurricane) happens, where is our help going to come from?” he said.
If the DEP denies the Okaloosa Island permit, the county would not be able to restore the beach with sand from the borrow pit in the Gulf of Mexico identified in its application — even in case of an emergency, said Jim Trifilio, coastal management coordinator with the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.
another legal consideration is whether the permit for the Destin work would be affected by a denial of the Okaloosa Island permit. Both projects have proposed taking sand from the same borrow pit, but the administrative judge deemed the sand unfit for Okaloosa Island but permissible in Destin.
“It’s an open question at this point,” Trifilio told commissioners.
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