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Dune zone to respect rights of owners

Officials drafting an ordinance affecting beach stabilization try to avoid infringing on property owners' rights.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published July 20, 2005

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - Creating a dune preservation zone along the Gulf of Mexico front will not infringe on waterfront property owners' rights to their individual stretch of beach.

That was the clear consensus, after hours of debate Tuesday, among the City Commission and members of the city's beach management plan committee.

At issue are the riparian rights of waterfront property owners, their ownership of the beach all the way to the mean high water line, or erosion control line.

Some members of the dune committee wanted the city to automatically replant dunes damaged or eroded during major storms.

But after the sharp insistence of Commissioner Jeremiah Carmody, the group agreed such an action could infringe on the rights of beach property owners.

"If somebody doesn't want a dune I don't think we should march an army in front of their house," Carmody said.

The commission is working on a draft of a new ordinance that would encourage, and to some extent regulate, a continuous dune system along the city's beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.

The area impacted by the proposed ordinance is the first 50 feet of beach west of the city's seawall.

The proposed ordinance is still not in its final form. Once it is, the commission plans to hold a public meeting this fall before voting on its adoption.

Residents attending a contentious meeting in December were particularly concerned that growing dunes could block their water views. They also wanted to be able to remove sandspur plants and to use their beach for recreation.

Subsequent meetings sharply reduced the amount of regulation in the ordinance, which now is more of an "encouragement" for the city and property owners to build and protect a dune system.

The goal now is to create a natural, protective barrier along the city's 2.7 miles of beach to reduce damage to upland buildings and properties in the event of hurricanes and major storms.

But, as was made clear Tuesday, this will not mean the city will do anything to force property owners to build dunes on the beach, nor will the city do anything without property owners' permission.

At the same time, if dunes or the plants that help dunes grow are already there, property owners are prohibited by state law from damaging or removing them.

Another contentious issue, beach raking, also was discussed and it appears the city will take over cleaning the beach monthly.

Raking permits previously given to beach property owners may no longer be issued, said Mayor Bill Ockunzzi.

He also wants the city to rezone the entire beach as a "preservation zone." This action could make it easier for the city to regulate the character and use of the beach.

In the city's zoning code a preservation district applies to "water recharge areas and areas of significant environmental or ecological importance ... which require the retention of an essentially natural landscape."

[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:57:15]