Beach parking may change renourishment funding

BY MARCY SHORTUSE

Gasparilla Island is scheduled for a Lee County and federal beach renourishment this fall. It is unclear, however, how much a potential change in parking or public access for the beach due to a possible new Lee County parking ordinance will affect the federal funds for the project.

Gasparilla Island, like beaches across the nation, are periodically “renourished,” as nature frequently decides to take square footage from the beach and place it back into the sea. In Florida, these endeavors are typically handled by either the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, also known as the FDEP, with funding for the latter usually shared by a state or county agency.

Currently, the south end of the island at Gasparilla Island State Park is in the process of renourishment by the state. Lee County renourishment was last completed in 2019 at a cost of $6.5 million. A Lee County renourishment in 2013 for three miles was $7.3 million. A 2007 project was $11.8 million.

In December of 2024, Lee County’s Steve Boutelle, the manager for public works operations for the Lee County Division of Natural Resources, gave a public presentation regarding all current beach projects in the county. He said that the Army Corps were on track to start advertising for construction teams for local beach renourishment in July of this year, and in September work would start. 

Jeffrey D. Prater, public affairs specialist for the corporate communications office of the Army Corps in Jacksonville, told the Boca Beacon there is a formula they follow to determine the funding each location receives, and part of that formula includes immediate beach access. 

“Public access to a Federally authorized beach should be approximately every 0.5 mile (0.25 mile north or 0.25 miles south of a public access and parking) to receive the maximum cost share. Cost share for coastal projects is 65 Fed/35 non-Fed but can be adjusted accordingly based on shoreline ownership and use and whether there is reasonable access and parking,” Prater wrote in an email.

“If access is diminished, then the cost-share may be adjusted accordingly, increasing the non-federal commitment,” Prater wrote.

Lee County Communications Director Betsy Clayton provided further information, including a clarification.

“We want to ensure Boca Beacon readers understand the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not doing this because of the hurricanes,” she said. “This is a planned federal project. But because of the storms — specifically Ian — the restoration on Gasparilla Island beaches qualifies for 100 percent federal funding under the Flood Control & Coastal Emergencies Act.”

The renourishment project currently being conducted by the state at Gasparilla Island State Park is completely separate from this project. The Lee County project will run from 17th Street down to approximately South Beach Bar & Grille, Clayton wrote. The state project, currently in works at the Gasparilla Island State Park, is at the southern tip of the island.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has a program called the Beach Management Funding Assistance Program, which works with agencies such as the state and county for financing beach projects. Every year, the FDEP requests funding from the legislature, and when they get money, they will offer cost sharing with the “local sponsors.” 

In order to obtain maximum state funding for renourishment, there must be 100 parking spaces per mile of beach, or approximately 52.8 feet of shoreline for each parking space, Clayton said. Credits can be given for access such as bus stops, bicycle racks and certain hotel/motel accommodations.

The FDEP is very stringent about its regulations regarding public access to the beaches they help to nourish. The regulation requires “a site with at least 50 to 100 public parking spaces and public restrooms.”

The state’s definition of a public beach access is “an entry zone and associated parking adjacent to a sandy beach under public ownership or control which is specifically used for providing access to the adjacent sandy beach for the general public. The access must be signed, maintained and clearly visible from the adjacent roadway. The parking spaces counted for eligibility must be within one-quarter mile walking distance of a lateral entry zone and available to the general public.”

The county diligently maps the beach, public access and parking spaces or alternate forms of access to ensure compliance, Clayton said. “However, when the ratio simply cannot be met, then the project is still eligible for the state funding, but the amount is adjusted down to mirror the percentage of access,” she said.

According to the FDEP, Lee County has 98 beach access points along 47 miles of coastline (or every 0.48 miles), and Charlotte County has nine access points along 12 miles of beach (or every 1.33 miles).