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Group: We can set beach growth
By AMY WIMMER
© St. Petersburg Times, Even critics of a negotiated deal with the Department of Environmental Protection have softened their stance. Misunderstandings about what the local cities would surrender in negotiations regarding the Coastal Construction Control Line prompted some local officials to question the wisdom of their representatives. But since Redington Shores Mayor J.J. Beyrouti answered those questions at a recent meeting of the Barrier Islands Governmental Council, the naysayers have recanted their concerns. The BIG-C, composed of elected officials from all the beach cities except Clearwater, has sponsored the negotiations to keep the state from drawing a new Coastal Construction Control Line that would give the state control of much of the development on the barrier islands. The Big-C appointed Beyrouti to lead its negotiating team. He has proposed replacing the control line with other rules that are designed to protect the shoreline but would be administered by local government. Right now, the local rules seem to hinge on what the Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to do in Pinellas County. A long-running disagreement between FEMA and Pinellas over elevation maps has delayed FEMA's plans to establish new guidelines in Pinellas. The DEP and local governments, led by the Big-C, are looking at setting housing elevations based on FEMA's new rules. Gene Chalecki, program administrator for the DEP's control line program, said negotiations between DEP and the Big-C continue. "There has been some discussion about linking this with the new FEMA maps, but I'm not certain whether anyone at this time can state with certainty when there will be an agreed-to elevation that both FEMA and the county are concurrent with," Chalecki said.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
