Pinellas County plans dune plantings at Pass-a-Grille but says permits and Army Corps issues slow larger renourishment

Pinellas County Coastal Management told the St. Pete Beach Beach Stewardship Committee it has a scope of work and survey ready to plant dunes at Pass-a-Grille but cannot start until required coastal permits are issued.

The update matters because the dune lost in recent storms remains exposed and county staff said planting is the fastest available measure to stabilize sand and protect habitat and nesting areas while larger renourishment plans continue to be negotiated.

Zach Westfall, with Pinellas County Coastal Management, told the committee the county rebuilt a dune using overwashed sand and now intends to plant native species to stabilize it. “We do not have a permit to do the planting,” Westfall said. He described two permitting paths the county has considered: a CCCL permit or renewal of the county’s joint coastal permit used for beach placement.

Westfall said the county has completed a survey of the area to be planted and has a vetted scope of work that includes a wider variety of native species than were used previously — “upwards of about 10 to 11” plant types, depending on nursery supply — and that the county will go out to bid once permits are in hand. He added the county is trying to bundle this work with other nearby county projects to save costs.

The presentation noted a small county grant program that can seed local plantings: Westfall said the county’s CO (community outreach/CO giveaway) program has about $5,000 available and that, at current prices, that amount can purchase roughly 3,000 sea oats. He encouraged local groups to consider volunteer plantings coordinated with county staff and said volunteers and local nonprofit partners have supported past plantings.

Westfall also addressed the longer-term issue of federal beach renourishment. He described a multi-year stalemate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over easements and conditions required for Corps-managed nourishment projects and said the county plans to proceed with a county-led project while continuing talks with the Corps. “It’s been a 13 year stalemate, unfortunately, with the Corps,” Westfall said, adding that the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 included language to restore prior Corps practice but that implementing guidance and agency direction remain outstanding.

On schedule, Westfall told the committee the county’s current permit window for renourishment work would expire in March 2026 and said the county is moving as quickly as it can on bids and funding applications, including requests that would use tourist-development (bed) tax revenue, local government funding requests and possible state special appropriations.

Public commenters asked for clarity on where planting will occur and on the status of walkover (beach access) repair RFPs; Westfall and committee members confirmed the dune planting is limited to areas where the county placed overwashed sand (first through 16th avenues in the Pass-a-Grille fill template) and that RFPs for walkovers were in process.

The update did not include a formal vote. County staff listed next steps as obtaining the required state coastal permit, finalizing the bid package, and seeking funding; the county asked local groups to coordinate volunteer planting efforts and offered to share grant-application information with the city.

Ending: County staff asked the committee to share interest in volunteer planting and to notify the county when its small grant application window opens. The committee and public urged prompt permitting and clearer public web links to beach-health testing and project status.