Manasota Key Coastline Rehab Moving Forward


 

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, February 20th 2017 – The long-delayed Stump Pass Dredging Project, which would set in motion shoreline protection and the sand replenishment of the beaches of Manasota Key, is now green and go again to provide some lift to homes for sale in Englewood.

Costing close to $5 million, this project has been scheduled for March 1 to May 1 this year. The dredging was supposed to have started last year but had to be postponed outside of the turtle nesting season extending from May 1 to October 31. Manasota Key is notably one of the primary nesting sites on Florida’s Gulf coast for some sea turtle species like loggerheads.

The staging area for the project Chadwick Park is already closed. This project hub is just across of the public Englewood Beach and south of the Castaways condominium which incidentally offers some rarely available but attractively priced Englewood real estate for sale.

A Groin for Beach Protection

Manasota Key Coastline Rehab Moving Forward

The project calls for dredging two channels, one on the Lemon Bay side of Stump Pass and another at the pass’s mouth on the Gulf. The multi-million dollar project will likewise add barrier rocks to create a permeable groin at the southern tip of Manasota Key. This structure will be backfilled with sand to keep the beach from washing south.

Local authorities and residents are likewise pinning their hopes in getting state funding for a larger beach renourishment project in Manasota Key, which is estimated at over $23 million. Initially, $200,000 is being sought by Charlotte County officials for a project study on the sand replenishment. This amount would hopefully be sourced from the $50 million Florida beach renourishment budget that Governor Rick Scott is asking from the state legislature this year.

Recent Successes in Siesta, Cortez

State funding has been granted earlier to some beach rehab projects in Sarasota and Manatee counties. One is the beach renourishment in South Siesta Key which was completed last year at a cost of $21.5 million, with funding coming from tourist tax revenues, state grant and private property assessment within the project area.

Also completed early this 2017 was the Cortez Beach groins replacement project in the southern part of Anna Maria Island. Three groins, pier-like structures stretching towards the Gulf, were built to help guard against beach erosion at the shoreline along Gulf Drive South. One each were built opposite Sixth Street South and 10th Street South, while the last groin was constructed just south of 13th Street South.

Besides helping prevent beach loss, these structures also benefit nearby properties by protecting nearby public infrastructures like underground utilities. Built at a cost of $6.8 million, these groins have a minimum lifespan of 50 years, surely an incentive enough to consider coastal properties at Cortez Beach and at nearby keys.

These builds were are improvement from the previous fixed structures. The new groins are adjustable and permeable, allowing control of water and sand passing between the piers. With these groins and similar structures in Longboat Key, calibrations are possible underneath the superstructure to adjust to changing conditions. With this, it is possible to balance the amount of sand under or passing through the structure in order to maintain a good shoreline that has always been one of the market magnets for local real estate properties.